Thorns
by JustAnotherFairy
Summary: They hate each other, that's how it's always been, so once they realise that hate may not be hate, both Rose and Scorpius decide to keep their relationship a secret, however that's when the shenanigans begin...
1. Humour, Rose and Thorns

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but my wonderful OC's and the plot, the original story belongs and always will belong to J.K Rowling...but maybe if I get really rich she can lend it to me for an hour..just an hour and I will be a happy crup indeed.**

 **Summary:** **They hate each other, that's how it's always been so once they realise that hate may not be hate both Rose and Scorpius decide to keep their relationship a secret however that's when the shenanigans begin..**

* * *

 **My life is part humour, part rose, part thorns -**

 **Bret Michaels**

In an attempt to run a hand through her wild bushy mane her hand was once again caught, which caused Rose to let out a sigh of frustration. Though such an action was normal it didn't mean that it went not causing a problem for the teen. Years of serving as Gryffindors keeper kept her tall frame toned, her shoulders slightly broad and body in a fit condition. The combination of her scowl, hunched shoulders and large intimidating mane was enough to cause the mass of students younger and older to high tale in the opposite direction- well except one.

"You need to stop scowling or no one will talk to you" claimed a voice in a singsong tone. Being a good couple of inches shorter than her, Rose had to glance down at the smaller girl. Her thick light brown locks were hung loose around her face and neck, perfectly contrasting with tanned skin that Rose would trade for own alabaster tone in a heartbeat. The Hufflepuff girl had a large smile on her face, something that wasn't exactly uncommon with her.

Meara or Mimi Finnegan was one of the girls who obsessed over their appearance, gossiped over boys and spent endless hours flicking through _Witch Weekly_ to drool over the rising quidditch players. Of course it was expected that most of the boys in Hogwarts had crushes over her since she was everything Rose wasn't; short, curvaceous and busty.

"You're clearly talking to me, so that's my plan out of the window" Rose quipped, which caused the smaller girl to pout. Ignoring her friend's expression she reached into her bag to pull out a bag of every flavoured beans, at this Mimi's eyes brightened and a wide grin formed on her features once more.

Rose smiled before pulling the bag out of reach from the smaller girl, the action only causing her to pout once more.

"Not until you give the Divination feedback" Rose stated.

The smaller girl sighed defeatedly before reaching into her bag and handing over Rose's parchment. The truth was that she disliked the idea of asking anyone for help with assignments, however out of all her NEWT subjects, it was advanced Divination that was starting to take its toll on her. So it was only natural of her to ask the student that was the best in their class for help, and she didn't ask for much either, just enough sugar filled treats to knock out a mountain troll.

Rose scanned over the parchment, little hearts and smiley faces were placed around her own neat scrawl, which caused her to frown in disgust. Even all her 'i's had been sorted with hearts.

"Must you dot your 'I' with hearts, it's frustrating" Rose commented as she continued to read over her essay.

"They look prettier that way" Mimi commented between mouthfuls of beans. Rose shook her head in disbelief, the smaller girl was everything she wasn't, a complete contrast to her own tomboys personality so it was somewhat strange to see the two of them hanging out together.

The flurry of students was always great to see, however most of them swiftly avoided crossing paths with her due to her famed temper yet that didn't stop them from gazing dreamily at her companion. Mimi, however seemed oblivious to the stares, and carried on demolishing her sweets with such enthusiasm that would put even her own table manners to shame.

"Hey you want to head to the lake later?" Mimi asked as they walked into the great hall. Rose shrugged, she had little interest in the lake since the only people populating it were hormone driven girls hoping to catch the attention of equally hormonal driven boys.

"Maybe" She shrugged, though they both knew that such an answer meant 'no' in her vocabulary. Despite this Mimi smiled before parting ways to join the rest of her friends, it wasn't that she wasn't a nice girl it was just that Rose found nothing in common with the Hufflepuff other than their shared classes and love of Quidditch.

After scanning the hall she was quick to notice two of her cousins; Albus and Lily Potter. Like both his brother and father, Albus- or Al as he prefered to be called, sported the Potter unruly dark hair, squared jaw and slightly stocky build. Lily however, took more of the Weasley roots; with her bright hair, warm brown eyes and a tall willowy build.

Rose silently sat to join her cousins at one of four large tables populating the Great Hall. Many of the students sat with friends outside of their house, allowing inter house unity and for Potter-Weasley clan to sit together during meal times. However it seemed that both James, her brother Hugo and cousin Fred were missing from this meeting.

"Was that Meara Finnegan who you just walked in with?" Lily asked with knowing smirk, the latter directed towards her older brother. The said Slytherin ducked his head in embarrassment and proceeded to try and find some comfort in his toast.

Rose spared Al a sympathetic glance before turning back to Lily.

"Yep, she's still as peppy as ever and she asked to go to the lake later too" she said dismissively before preparing to tuck into her eggs.

At this Lily beamed before gently nudging her brother in the arm.

"You hear that, if you head to the lake you might just be able to ask her out" she said excitedly, which didn't seem to soothe him the least.

Al groaned in embarrassment before running a hand through his unruly dark hair.

"You know Lil's I never mentioned wanting to ask Mimi out" He countered in an attempt to silence her.

Lily shrugged before her hazel eyes lit up with mischief.

"You never had to say it, as your sister I just know" she remarked before stealing his toast. Rose smiled at the siblings, thought they tended to tease each other it was never out of spite- at least most of the time.

"You've been quiet for longer than thirty seconds" her

Hugo commented as he took a seat beside her. His uniform was out of sorts and his auburn hair disheveled as if pulled- in other words the tell all signs of having an encounter with his girlfriend Julie.

Rose lightly punched him in the arm before continuing her breakfast, trying to ignore how much of a prat her brother was.

"Shut up and eat your breakfast Hugo, or do I have to get Julie over here to make you act properly" She teased with a look of triumph.

Her brother flicked a piece of scrambled eggs at her, which was a waste of food in her her opinion.

Both Lily and Albus watched the action with mild amusement, the two Weasley siblings continued to flick their food at each other and both ignored the looks of disapproval from the peers.

"You're so immature" Hugo commented as he flicked pieces of scrambled egg from his hair. Rose stuck out her tongue in response, though the action only earned herself a snort of laughter from her cousins.

"You looking forward to trials, Al?" Rose asked as she turned her attention away from her brother.

Al shrugged, this would have been his first year trying out for the school quidditch team and even though he did a good job of masking it, Rose could tell he was nervous. It seemed that his older brother James was already preparing for the Gryffindor trials- which she was hoping to attend herself.

"Somewhat, though Scorpius says he's not going easy since we're friends or anything " He explained. Rose visibly grimaced at the mention of Scorpius Malfoy; the the two were civil with each other due to his friendship with Al, it didn't change her dislike for him.

Both Lily and Hugo seemed to notice her reaction and laughed to themselves, which only annoyed her further.

"I thought you two...you know- formed a truce?" Al asked in confusion.

Rose shrugged before tucking a stray curl behind her ear- at least that way it wasn't going to bother her.

"We are-" she started before Lily interrupted.

"But that doesn't mean that they have to like each other" She stated to Hugo.

"Or disagree with anything the other says" Hugo added with a smirk.

Rose folded her arms in annoyance, though it seemed that both her brother and younger cousin were ignoring her in favour of their own conversation. Since when had it become 'throw shade at Rose day'

* * *

As the group arrived at the Quidditch pitch it was clear that the Hufflepuff trials had come to an end, Meara Finnegan was seen shaking hands and offering the thumbs up gesture to most of the young hopefuls. A scrawny looking bunch in her opinion, though the Hufflepuff team weren't exactly known for producing the best quidditch players, yet they still had fun.

Upon seeing her, Mimi started to frantically wave and started on making her way over to the group. Of course being the perfect specimen she was, Mimi was even able to make standard Quidditch robes loom good. The usual drab outfit hugged her thin frame, assenting her waist and bust that Rose found herself envying.

"Are you set for the trials?" Mimi asked the group with a wide smile. Rose was vaguely aware of her cousin subverting his gaze to anywhere but the mounds protruding from her chest, though it seemed that the spectators weren't as respectful.

Albus seemingly lost his voice due to be addressed directly by his crush and had retorted to making incoherent noises that were somehow supposed to resemble words.

"Yeah- no...maybe...I have no clue" Al stuttered once h had found his voice. Lily was trying to suppress her own laughter the situation, whilst Hugo watched in amusement however Rose felt somewhat embarrassed for him.

"Oh that was a lot of answers…" Mimi commented in confusion before shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. The silence was more than awkward, it was something else entirely and Rose was sure that after this her cousin was sure to have more awkward encounters with the object of his desires.

"Well there's going to be a lot of Gryffindor victory parties this season, so keep your calendar open Finnegan" Rose teased in an attempt to break the thick slice of awkwardness. It seemed to work for a bright smile had once again formed on Mimi's face as the previous conversation was forgotten.

"As if Weasley, we won't be going down without a fight!" Mimi exclaimed before turning to face the group of girls that were screaming her name. Rose visibly grimaced at the large group of Hufflepuff's, if one thought that Meara Finnegan was boy crazy then her friends were certainly much worse.

"Mimi, hurry up so we can get a good spot at the lake!" Augusta Longbottom, a tall blonde shouted at the top of her lungs. The rest of the girls squealed in agreement. All of them practically screaming as loud as they could, so loud that Rose was surprised that her ears weren't bleeding.

"They really have a set of lungs…" Hugo commented with a grimace whilst rubbing his ears.

"Girls I'll catch up, I kind of want to see the Slytherin's trials" Meara called out which earned herself looks of confusion from her friends.

The group of squealing girls quickly dispersed at this, though their cries would haunt Rose forever like a banshee in the night.

"I'll go up and get us a seat" Meara stated before turning to Albus.

"If your Quidditch skills are better than your conversing ones, then you'll make the team for sure" The small girl quipped before disappearing to the stands.

Albus stared at the space where Meara had just stood, she felt sorry for him- well almost since his own behaviour was his own fault after all.

"I can't believe what an idiot I was…" He sighed before running a hand through his unruly hair as if to vent out his annoyance. No one said a word.

"Yeah, me neither" Lily commented which only earned herself a glare from Rose and Hugo.

"As his sister, I'm allowed to offer criticism on everything he does" She added with a shrug.

Rose shook her head in disbelief, however her temporary disappointment was soon replaced with disgust as the Slytherin hopefuls accompanied by Scorpius Malfoy himself entered the pitch. Their emerald green robes swung with each stride they took, each of them sporting a bout of confidence that only a Gryffindor could match.

"Maybe we should go and find Meara…" Lily suggested in an attempt to prevent another Gryffindor/Slytherin confrontation which would undoubtedly lead to detentions and loss of house points.

"Rose, let's go" Hugo said almost pleadingly. Though Rose was vaguely aware of him talking as she had her gaze on said pale blonde as he practically swaggered onto the middle of the pitch with his usual sneer directed at everyone who he thought to be beneath him.

"What a bloody git- who does he think he is?!" Rose exclaimed as they continued watching the rest of the Slytherins walk onto the pitch. All eagerly awaited to mount their brooms, with expressions of seriousness. It were almost as if their lives depended on making the team. Lily shook her head in disbelief whilst Albus shook his in embarrassment.

"What ever happened to 'being civil'?" Al asked with a slight groan, his hand once again had found itself running through his hair.

"Well that has obviously gone out of the window" Lily quipped before walking off towards the stand, most likely to find a seat where Meara was.

To be honest Rose had no idea how the rivalry between herself and Scorpius even started. True their parents had never seen eye to eye, but her mother had always stressed to never form opinions of people based on their parents own decisions.

Ever since she could remember, her time with Scorpius had never been civil. There were competitions to see who could learn the most instruments, better test scores and even the better quidditch player.

Any sort of task that the both of them had to complete, Rose was sure to try her utmost best to surpass him and vice versa. Their relationship never resulted to physical violence, much to their peers pleasure however their rivalry always annoyed those around them.

"I'm going to go over…" Albus announced quickly, offering Hugo a look of apology in the process.

"I'll go and find Lily" Hugo quickly added before racing off and leaving Rose alone.

Rose pouted slowly before folding her arms over her chest in annoyance. It wasn't only that Scorpius was a prat but he was a not bad looking prat either. During the summer of their fifth year he had definitely gained height, his body more defined in quidditch robes and his jawline more prominent.

He had an air of confidence about him that anyone could sense from miles away, and a cocky smirk which at the current moment was directed right at Rose in what one could only describe as amusement.

"Finally decided to see what a real team looks like?" Scorpius quipped as he sauntered over to where she was stood.

Rose rolled her eyes in response, the action not going unnoticed since Scorpius' smirk only seemed to get wider.

"And where would I find this real team?" She countered with a sneer.

It seemed that Scorpius was mimicking her own expression, his arms were folded across his chest and exposed his toned arms and broadened chest- not that she was looking.

"Definitely not with the Gryffindor's" He commented with his smirk still evident.

"Scorp, you going to start tryouts or should we leave you two to finish?" Al asked, the rest of the Slytherins cheering in agreement. However with a sharp glare from the pale blond, they were quickly silenced.

"I hope you take notes, Weasley" Scorpius stated before abruptly turning away towards the Slytherins.

"As if!" Rose called out in an attempt to gain the last word. Though it went unheard by Scorpius for he was already barking orders at the Slytherin's which prompted her to walk off to find her seat.

Of course Meara and her cousins were seated in the Gryffindor stands; her brother watching the tryouts intently whilst both Lily and Meara scanned the potential hopefuls.

"His arms look pretty good" Meara commented almost dreamily.

Lily nodded in agreement before pointing over towards a stocky fifth year boy, who was already drenched in sweat.

"He has a nice arse" Lily added with a grin.

"Sssh, I'm trying to watch!" Hugo hissed in annoyance.

Rose rolled her eyes, not only was she surrounds by boy crazy classmates, but also boy crazy cousins.

"this is quidditch tryouts, and not a _Witch Weekly_ issue" Rose remarked.

Meara shrugged innocently before starting on eating a second bag of every flavoured beans- how many she had stored no one knew.

"But you have to admit...Scorpius has nice arms" She said between mouthfuls.

Rose found herself grimacing at the thought of even _looking_ at Scorpius as if he were a decent looking human being, to see him as attractive was another story altogether.

" _Malfoy?"_ She asked with disbelief, her eyes planting their focus on said pale blond as he confidently stood at the Slytherin stands barking orders as the students flew laps round the pitch.

"Yes, Scorpius Malfoy...The one with the nice arms unless there's another Malfoy that's got nice arms" Meara commented before eating more beans.

"But he's Malfoy" Rose found herself muttering, almost like a confused child.

"Yes his name is Malfoy" Lily stated in a tone one would use to congratulate a Crup for not using their carpet as a toilet.

"And he has nice arms" Meara added with a firm nod, she placed her hand up and Lily abruptly high fived her, the action causing Hugo to shake his head in disbelief.

Rose shrugged, she had to admit that even for a prat Scorpius Malfoy had nice arms. Perhaps there was no harm in noticing, after all there was no harm in looking, even if the said object was an arrogant prat with an ego larger than Hogwarts.

* * *

 _ **So what do you think of that?**_

 _ **This first chapter is to introduce the primary characters, of course more will be introduced as the chapters go on and I hope to revive criticism on my characters. Yay.**_

 _ **Feedback is much appreciated my lovelies.**_

 _ **JustAnotherFairy :)**_


	2. Heated Discusions

**Disclaimer: I OWN nothing but the plot and OC's.**

 **Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; an argument an exchange of ignorance -**

 **Robert Quillan**

* * *

It was official, her cousin James was evil.

Not only did her entire body ache but Rose was made beater rather than her intended position as keeper. She was also certain to not be able to lift her arms for a week thanks to James' vigorous training regime, and she sort of needed her arms for the carrying out everyday tasks such as getting herself ready the remainder of the sighed in defeat before continuing to rearrange the clutter of the desk, most of it was the typical products that _Witch Weekly_ insisted that every teenaged witch had to possess. Once it was pristine, the foundation placed in height order and the vast number of lotions color coded, Rose gave herself a mental pat on the back for in her opinion this was a job well done.

She smacked her hands together before reaching for the copy of Quidditch Weekly from her bed, the Wimbourne Wasps were prestigious team and Rose played her cards right she could get a chance at getting scouted for their junior team. For as long as she could remember, playing professional Quidditch had been a passion of hers. Though despite her mother's insistence that she had other paths to chose from, she aspires for it nonetheless.

It was rumoured that they were to be attending the final match of the school inter house games, so Rose was sure to play her best at each of her matches.

It was then that the door was swung open with such force, Rose worried that a permanent dent was going to left on the wall and a chorus of giggles echoed throughout the once silent room. Two of her roommates, Kaylee Thomas- a pretty girl with light brown skin with long braided hair, and Suzanne Jordan- a dark skinned girl with long dark locks walked in.

It wasn't that Rose disliked her room mates at all, she hardly ever saw them outside of their shared classes and bed times. It was just that like most of the girls in her year, they had little in common and there wasn't much to converse about other than the weather- which was a very boring topic when brought up in conversation.

"Rose you have a free period," Kaylee stated with a grin "Well good since we're heading down to the lake to meet Meara and Augusta" She said with excitement. Suzanne giggled as if unable to contain her excitement for much longer and proceeded to untie her hair from the confines of its ponytail.

"Maybe" Rose said, mirroring her answer to Meara from the previous day, however unlike the short Hufflepuff, Kaylee Thomas wasn't going to take that as an answer.

"That wasn't a question...now we'll give you five minutes to get ready and meet us" Kaylee demanded before reaching for her lipgloss placed on the desk. However in her haste to reach it, she knocked over one of the lotion bottles, which in turn started a domino effect and Rose's immaculate arrangement was ruined before you could say 'acromantula'

Rose stared at the now messy desktop as if trying to register in her mind what had just happened. At the redheads silence, both Kaylee and Suzanne exchanged worried glances since the both of them didn't want to experience her temper first hand.

"Maybe we should give you ten minutes to get ready…" Suzanne suggested before quickly pulling on Kaylee's arm. The dark skinned girl needed little encouragement in leaving and once the thud of the door signified that they had indeed left Rose was plunged into silence once more.

To her pleasure she wasn't bothered again since Kaylee and Suzanne gave her fifteen minutes to get ready.

* * *

The chilly october breeze ran through her thick hair and the bronze autumn leaves brushed against the ground as they were swept around by the wind. Rose folded her arms over her chest in displeasure as both Kaylee and Suzanne proceeded to pull her down towards the lake. Despite their smaller, more petite frames they had a large amount of strength that even had Rose surprised as they dragged her across the grounds. A few sixth and seventh years had taken the opportunity to study outside as the lakeside was littered with numerous amounts of parchment, quills and textbooks in an attempt to prepare for upcoming exams.

"Look there they are" Suzanne called out, as she pointed over to where Augusta and Meara were currently lying. The girls proceeded to pull her down towards them and Rose had little choice but to follow since they held a vice like grip on her arms.

As per usual, Mimi Finnegan had a large box of sweets next to her, however this time they appeared to be of a foreign origin as written on the box was a language which Rose failed to understand.

"Kiki!" She called out with excitement once she noticed Kaylee approaching, her arms were outstretched and a wide smile across her face.

"Mimi" Kaylee responded with as much enthusiasm and both girls embraced in what appeared to be a bone crushing hug. Kaylee Thomas and Meara Finnegan were as close as two best friends could be, despite their respective houses the girls managed to make their sister type bond work.

"Rose you came!" Mimi said excitedly before popping some of the unknown sweets into her mouth. Rose nodded and proceeded to take a seat on the slightly itchy grass with her legs outstretched in front of her and arms placed behind to hold herself upright

"I had little choice in that matter…" Rose muttered whilst giving both Kaylee and Suzanne glares that caused them to quickly avert their gaze to anywhere but her face. Mimi nodded before lying back down on her back and proceeded to pop the candy pieces into her mouth.

"What sort of sweet is that?" Suzanne asked as she inspected the box, twirling it between her fingers and gently shaking its contents.

"My grandparents got it from India- they're pretty sweet" She said with a grin before eating more.

"You know eating on your back can result to choking, and if the Heimlich maneuver is not administered correctly can lead to death"Rose stated in a bored tone. The statement caused Mimi to bolt upright whilst violently coughing from a mixture of both shock and horror. Both Suzanne and Kaylee shook their heads in disbelief at Rose, whilst Augusta quickly patted at her friends back. In all fairness Rose didn't expect reaction and in her defense the smaller girl shouldn't have been eating in that position.

"I'm not doing that again…" Mimi muttered once she had overcome her coughing fit, however she proceeded to eat her sweets with caution.

"Any fit ones today?" Kaylee asked once she had stopped giving Rse a look of utter disapproval. Augusta nodded before gesturing to a group of boys messing around at the bottom of the lake by trying to push each other in. Of course the girls watched in interest as one of the boys- a seventh year hit the water with a splash which caused his wet shirt to cling to his body. this in Rose's opinion was utterly idiotic, for not only would he be at risk of getting cold, he would also get into trouble for swimming in the lake during school hours.

"Seventh years are so fit…" Suzanne drawled as she continued to watch the boys messing around.

"Yeah…" Augusta and Mimi sighed in agreement, though Mimi had her attention on her sweets.

Rose barely resisted an eye roll at their antics, drooling over boys like a bunch of- well girls. It was why she often preferred her own company to her peers, for not only did her appearance differ, but also their interests.

"Even Scorpius is fit- well for a Slytherin" Kaylee added in an almost dreamy tone. Rose quickly double blinked before glancing up, and sure enough sitting on the grass were a group of Slytherin sixth years and among them her cousin Al and Scorpius Malfoy.

"Mimi, isn't your sister a snake?" snake Suzanne asked off handedly. Meara Finnegan's younger sister, Saoirse, was a slightly broad fourth year who was dangerously close to being six feet tall. She wasn't one to get on the wrong side of- especially during a Quidditch match when she served as her house team's beater.

"Slytherin not snake" Mimi corrected with a hint of annoyance one wouldn't expect. Rose assumed that like herself, Mimi was protective of her siblings.

A chorus of giggles sounded and glancing over Rose noticed that the Slytherin boys were surrounded by a group of Slytherin girls. Rose shook her head in disbelief as Scorpius arrogantly smoothed back his pale blonde hair with his trademark smirk, whilst the girls practically squealed in delight.

Noticing her annoyed expression; Kaylee, Suzanne , Augusta and Mimi exchanged worried glances. As much as the Gryffindor girls dislikes Slytherin's, they didn't want a fight breaking out between the students who couldn't stand each other.

"Maybe we should go before...you know something happens" Augusta worriedly stated.

Mimi nodded in agreement before linking arms with the taller blonde, their friendship was almost comical- the tall blonde and the short brunette, yet they managed to stay together through thick and thin.

"Rose…" Said Kaylee in a tone one would use on a misbehaving child.

"Let's go, maybe we can go to the library or something" Suzanne suggested in an attempt to gain the redhead's attention. Of course at the mention of 'library' Rose was instantly hooked. Though as they left the lakeside, she was quick to spare a glance Scorpius' way, she instantly regretted it at the sight of a pretty brunette grasping a hold of his arm. The sight left an odd feeling in the pit of her stomach.

* * *

It had all been fine until his friend and roommate, Kai Zabini had pointed out the group of fit looking Hufflepuffs lying on the grass. Naturally of course he looked over, however Al instantly regretted it for his eyes became locked on hers. Meara Finnegan was something else entirely; bright sea blue eyes, small nose and thick chocolate brown curls that he was itching to run his hands through to see if they were as soft as it looked.

Her mustard yellow house scarf was wrapped tightly around her neck, the large rings dwarfing her small frame further and making her appear that more adorable.

His breath became hitched in his throat the moment she smiled at him- a wide infectious smile which always had him captivated from the first moment he saw it. He knew he was staring, he wanted to turn away- he really did, but he was hooked like a moth to a flame.

"I think he's drooling…" Mat Goyle, a burly boy in his year sniggered in an attempt to bring humor to the situation. Ignoring Mat he found himself smiling as Meara delicately waved her fingers at him, her captivating smile still present.

"She is fit" Kai stated in a matter of fact tone and Al was quickly snapped from his thoughts the moment his friends all hummed in agreement. Since when were they allowed to oogle the girl he fancied, then it suddenly occurred to him that she was indeed surrounded by hormone driven boys each of them mentally undressing her from her thick scarf and oversized robes.

"Don't worry, Al no one here is making a move on Finnegan" Scorpius stated before quickly sending a glare towards the large group of hormonal teenage boys.

"You better make a move before someone else does.." Mat pointed out as he gestured to the students dotted around with blue and red house scarves.

Albus sighed, though it was true that he fancied Meara Finnegan, there was the issue that every time he talked to her his words would fail him as if someone had engorged his tongue. He sometimes wished that he had his brothers Gryffindor courage to just go straight over to the girl and ask her out, though he knew that it wasn't going to happen. He wasn't his father and he wasn't James. He was just Al.

"That doesn't matter, she's off limits" Scorpius stated in a 'that's final' tone, which had everyone nodding in agreement.

"you're going to have to ask her out sooner or later" Scorpius pointed out.

"I think I saw Vodden with his eye on her earlier" He added off handedly. Albus groaned, Ruaridh Vodden was a seventh year Ravenclaw with perfect hair, perfect teeth and downright perfect everything. If Vodden had his sights set on Meara then Albus knew that his own chances with her were slim.

"Y-you don't think she'll go out with him, do you?" He asked Scorpius, almost pleadingly. Scorpius shrugged before shifting his emerald green tie, something that had always irritated Al to no end.

"Do Hippogriffs shit in woods?" Scorpius asked in a bored tone. Al groaned, it seemed that if he wanted to get with Meara Finnegan he had to make a move and soon.

* * *

Her arms were still aching her by the time they had potions class that afternoon, at least with the added heat from the cauldron fire Rose was allowed to escape the chilly autumn breeze. After many incidents with Mimi and fire, Rose was sure to keep a close eye on the cauldron, and that left the brunette on cutting duty. The class was a mixture of all the sixth year students since advanced potions was a difficult class to get into, it wasn't popular among her peers.

"So about the lake.." Mimi started as the thud of the knife hitting the chopping board echoed throughout the room, "I'm sorry if we were a little um much" She apologized.

Rose sighed before tucking a stray curl behind her ear and out of her eyes, though her wild curls were tied into a ponytail for the class, one strand always managed to escape in an attempt to present itself as an inconvenience.

"Mimi, there's no need- you like your stuff and I like mine" Rose stated, her eyes focused on the bubbling brew in the cauldron. Mimi nodded before silently adding the now diced porcupine quills.

With Professor Slughorn stepping out with Augusta for a brief moment most of the class carried on with their potions- well most.

"That's probably your best potion yet, Weasley pity you had Finnegan doing the work" Scorpius teased as he sauntered over to where the two girls were stationed. Mimi kept her head down in an attempt to avoid the impending confrontation, Rose however accepted the challenge.

"Piss off Malfoy" Rose spat, her back now turned away from the potion. Scorpius smirked at the reaction he had received from her, however Rose was far from impressed.

"Language, Weasley" He lightly scolded in a tone one would use on a child, which caused Rse to glare daggers at the pale blonde. Unknown to the bickering teens, the potion was starting to bubble the liquid flowing dangerously close to the rim...

"Umm Rose..we have a situation-" Mimi called out as she noticed the potion starting to steam.

"Not now Mimi" Rose hissed before turning her attention back to Scorpius "You can't tell me what to do" She snapped at the blonde. Mimi quickly started firing spells in an attempt to calm the potion, however her attempts were in vain and the potion continued to flow, clouds of steam rising dangerously into the air.

"You obviously need some sort of direction with language like that" Scorpius remark earned him sniggers of approval from his housemates.

"Well you obviously-" Rose started before turning towards the potion with a horrified look, there was little time to react as the potion suddenly exploded with a bang, its contents drenching the desk, floor and an unfortunate Mimi.

"Oh Merlin, are you alright?!" Rose exclaimed as she ran over to where Mimi was hunched over clutching her arm in pain. Half of the students had formed a circle around the three students, all pushing pat each other to gain a glimpse of what had happened.

"Mmnm fine.." Mimi groaned before gingerly outstretched her arm only to wince in pain as her singed robes touched her burnt skin. Rose found herself grimacing at the bright reddish-pink wound, Mimi definitely was not fine and she was definitely in trouble.

"Ew thats disgusting, it's all pink!" Haven Rosier, a curly haired blonde exclaimed with disgust.

The classroom door was swung open and Professor Slughorn and Augusta Longbottom walked back inside, both wearing identical looks of confusion as the class were out of their seats and a student was crouched on the floor in pain.

"Students back to your seats and Albus take Meara to the hospital wing" Professor Slughorn ordered once he had assessed the situation. Rose offered Mimi an apologetic glance as she was escorted out of the class, and the brunette offered her a thumbs up with her uninjured arm. However it appeared that Rose wasn't in the clear since Professor Slughorn needed an explanation, and her and Scorpius looked very guilty stood in the middle of the 'crime scene' The pair both glanced at each other and it was then that they knew that they were in trouble.

* * *

The hospital wing always reminded him of all those failed attempts of practicing for the Quidditch team, Al would spend endless hours of the first few weeks of term just practicing for the tryouts. Of course no one but Scorpius knew, his friend had been the one to train him and trying to keep the latter secret proved easier said than done when one had a family as large as his. Every visit to the hospital wing after falling he would've came up with some bogus excuse as to how he had a fractured wrist, or as to why he was bruised. He hated lying but he hated being a disappointment even more.

"You still home?" Meara asked, her sapphire blue orbs searching his emerald green ones. A few of her chocolate brown curls had fallen to frame her face and Albus felt the sudden urge to brush them back and run his hand through them, however he kept his hands by his side, bunching them up with handfuls of the sheets to ensure that they remained there. He suddenly found himself smiling, her smiles were just too infectious for him to resist and combined with those wide blue eyes he was hopeless.

His brother James had always talked about a girls bust- the larger the better he had always said; and his friends had often described a girls arse. Though Albus wasn't a saint, he had looked when his friends pointed, he had stared when a pretty Ravenclaw girl had bent over to retrieve her quill- he was a teenage boy after all. Though at the very moment he had found himself entrance only by Meara Finnegan's eyes, a bright sapphire blue like a vast waters of an ocean, and Albus was drowning in them.

"Yeah. Still home" He said whilst running a hand through his unruly hair. He glanced up and noticed her eyes watching him intently while her lips formed a small smile. He glanced down at his own appearance, wondering if perhaps there was something on his face or maybe she was laughing at him internally.

"You do that thing with your hair" She stated after the short silence. He quickly glanced up, too fast for he instantly regretted it.

"What thing?" He asked, his hand unconsciously moving to his hair which surprisingly caused her to smile.

"That thing" She stated as she started running her hands through her own hair, an action that he found oddly erotic and he was forced to look away as she slowly ran her fingers through her thick chocolate brown curls.

"You do that- you run your hand through your hair. It's really distracting- oops um never mind what I said" She added answered- almost too quickly for most of the words were muttered and placed together with little but a breath in between. He smiled at the hint of pink which had graced her cheeks, before his focus landed on the white bandages wrapped around her arm.

"Does is hurt?" He asked, his hands moving to gingerly grasp her wrist as he inspected the bandages wrapped around her forearm. She shook her head silently, though her eyes were downcast and Al was suddenly aware that his fingers were still wrapped around her slim wrist. His eyes suddenly widened and he quickly released his hold of her, his hands retreating back to his lap, his head lowered for he couldn't face her- not with a stunt like that.

"Oh..sorry. I didn't mean to" He quickly muttered, unaware of how Meara had placed the slender fingers of her hand over his own.

"Al…" She whispered, and he slowly glanced up upon hearing his name though he didn't miss the way her fingers were subtly placed over his own.

"Its okay, you don't have to be nervous around me" She told him with a wide infectious smile and he instantly knew that he was gone.

* * *

 _ **So what did you think of that?**_

 _ **Poor Rosie-posie not having anything in common with the 'normal' girls.**_

 _ **I burnt my OC but it was essential to allow Al to have some time with her.**_

 _ **What punishment will Rose and Scorpius face, will Al make his move. find out next time on Thorns.**_

 _ **JustAnotherFairy :)**_


	3. Truce

**A/N: Thank you to all the followers and of course the favouriters**

 **DISCLAIMER: I own nothing but my OC's and plot, the original isn't mine no matter how hard I wish it was.**

* * *

 **When you're surrounded by people who share the same set of assumptions as you, you start to think that's reality. -**

 **Emily Levine.**

* * *

The singed classroom tables had to be replaced, the burnt cauldron tossed away and their old station was avoided for the remainder of the day. Rose did feel partially responsible for the whole 'not paying attention to the potion and causing it to burn her partner incident' however in her defense, if Scorpius wasn't such a prat then the incident wouldn't have happened. It had also been the talk of the class, and many students had added their own twist.

Rose had taken it upon herself to avoid both her classmates and roommates for the rest of day. The quidditch pitch was serving as her means of comfort, and she was glad to have something to vent on.

"So it's true that you set Meara Finnegan on fire?" Hugo asked as if trying to stifle his own laughter.

Rose rolled her eyes before turning her back to her brother, she was practicing beating skills in peace before he arrived and he had ruined her concentration.

"Well it's been going around that you set her on fire- I just wanted to hear it from you" Hugo added with a shrug. Rose sighed before hitting the bludger once more, the force of the hit sending it flying into the bleachers and causing the unfortunate spectators to quickly scatter to avoid being hit.

Hugo watched with mild amusement before turning back to face her, a look of concern across his features and brows slightly furrowed.

"You okay?" He asked, though he instantly regretted it as Rose swung round with the bat tight in her grip.

"Malfoy just irritates me that's all" Rose answered. The bludger came flying towards her once more and once again the redhead hit it with such a force that her father would have been proud of.

"That still isn't an excuse to set a girl on fire" Hugo said in a slightly teasing tone.

Rose scoffed before catching the bludger, the force sent her staggering backwards slightly and she found herself in a bit of a struggle as she tried to get it back into its casing. Once she was satisfied that it wasn't going to escape its confinement anytime soon, she slammed the case shut before turning back to her brother.

"I didn't set her on fire" She hissed, her brother staring at her with folded arms.

"Well maybe not on purpose...The prat is constantly getting on my bloody nerves!" She added with frustration.

Hugo sighed, he knew it was probably best to let his sister vent out her current anger. For he knew better than anyone that an angry Rose wasn't the kind of person one could reason with, if she was stubborn in a normal mood, when angry said stubbornness was tripped.

"Why don't you count to ten like mum always tells you?" Hugo suggested once he was convinced Rose had let off some steam. Rose had her fingers placed on the bridge of her nose as if trying to calm herself.

"I don't want to count to bloody ten…" She answered, though slightly exasperated. Hugo opened his mouth to comment on her use of language- something that their mother had always done, however at the glare Rose was giving him he quickly decided against it.

"You shouldn't let him get to you" Hugo said with a sigh once Rose had stopped glaring.

Scorpius Malfoy was always able to affect her- to push all of her buttons in a way that had her go almost insane. He knew what made her tick and at first the thought had angered her to no end, but now it only served to bring her utter confusion.

"it's not that easy" She answered with a hint of bitterness. Scorpius knew so much about her, when she knew next to nothing about him.

"Well it's not that hard either" Hugo countered, a smirk crossing his features at Rose's expression of pure distaste.

"It wouldn't be if Malfoy wasn't such a prat" She snapped, heading off the Quidditch pitch and leaving an exasperated Hugo trailing behind her.

* * *

Slytherin students were a peculiar bunch.

Hard as nails with strong exoskeletons, yet somewhat soft and vulnerable. Both of his parents had been Slytherin's and only once had he seen them cry. His mother, Astoria, was one of the strongest women he knew. Full of pride and always presenting an air of sophisticated grace wherever she went, and Scorpius often found himself mimicking such traits.

However it had been one night when he had first started Hogwarts- his first Christmas home when he had seen it. His mother hunched over her office desk, what looked to be a crushed letter in her hands and tears rolling down her face. They weren't the tears he had seen on the girls at school, the ones that had shed over stupid little reasons like getting their hair pulled. Those were real tears. Her quiet sobs were enough to have him rooted to the spot and he was instantly unsure of what to do.

He had contemplated calling for his father, however at the sight of her red rimmed eyes he thought against it. He had planted himself at her knees and it took her a moment to register his presence, though when she did the tears stopped and the room silent.

She made no attempt to remove her tears from her face- like everything else she did she wore them with pride.

"Not in front of our enemies" She told him with such sternest.

"They would think that they hurt us- that they won" She said, her sharp eyes searching his own. He listened intently, mesmerised by her musical voice, her gracefulness and sense of hope.

"To them we are nothing but Slytherin's and Slytherin's don't cry…"

He had been on his usual prefect duties when he had heard it, the sound that always had him rooted to the spot. Heading towards the girls bathroom the sound only got louder, and Scorpius was certain that it was definitely sobbing. It took him longer than he anticipated to register what was happening, his initial thought was to walk away - the business wasn't his own and he had a job to do. However a deep part of his mind pulled his feet forward in forced him into the girls bathroom.

It was then that he realised which bathroom it was, the one no one entered thanks to the ghost inhabiting it. Her head tilted as if examining him through her spectacled gaze and her brows furrowed in confusion.

The ghost girl clad in Hogwarts robes glided over to him, her eyes never leaving his own.

"You remind me of someone- someone who was once lost" She said as she continued to inspect him.

He remained silent as the ghost continued her examination, however the quiet sobs had suddenly ceased and reduced to sniffles. Scorpius quickly walked past the ghost, leaving her staring after him with a childlike curiosity.

"Is he still lost now?" She asked, he head tilted once more like a broken porcelain doll and her translucent eyes once more locked onto his steel grey ones. Scorpius remained silent, assessing the ghost with his own curiosity. She was waiting for answer with such interest.

"No.." He answered before opening the cubicle door he was certain that the sobbing resided from. His eyes widened at who he found, a somewhat stocky girl, with red rimmed eyes and chocolate brown hair that slipped just past her chin. At first glance he almost thought it was Meara Finnegan, however once he caught sight of the chocolate brown eyes he knew that it was her younger sister Saoirse.

"Scorpius what are you- this is the girl's bathroom?!" She practically shrieked before slamming the door shut. He sighed before turning back to where the ghost was stood, however she was gone.

"Saoirse, as your captain open the door" He demanded with such authority. Not even two seconds had passed and he heard the tell click of the cubicle door before it slowly swung open, revealing the younger girl.

Saoirse was in her fourth year though had already surpassed most of her peers in height, no longer sitting down she was only an inch or two shorter than he was which ultimately contrasted with her older sisters shorter stature.

"Go on ask who made me cry like a miserable Ravenclaw" She hissed with anger. He ignored her tone, and instead assessed the way she stood. Her arms protectively folded over her chest and shoulders hunched as if to make herself seem smaller. He was aware of many of the fourth year students poking fun at her appearance, but never once had he pegged her as someone who even cared for such things.

"Why are you letting them win?" He asked- no demanded with a raised brow. The question clearly caught her off guard since it had her stuttering a reply of incoherent words.

"What?" She asked once she regained her ability to speak. Her eyes no longer full of tears but now narrowed dangerously to slits.

"You heard me. You're letting them win. You've let them take your pride" He told her, which only caused her to scowl.

"I didn't let them take anything from me!" She spat before abruptly turning away from him. He swiftly walked so that he was once again in her line of vision and his steel grey orbs locked onto her own.

"You've made yourself vulnerable. You've let them take your pride" He stated, she opened her mouth to protest though he abruptly cut her off.

"it shows, not from tears but appearance. Your slumped shoulders, your folded arms as a member of this house you should stand tall"

She lowered her head, her bangs falling into her eyes and keeping them from view. He allowed her sob, just this time.

"Words can hurt…" She muttered once her sobs had ceased. He nodded in agreement, remembering the vulgar and hurtful language he had seen in that letter all those years ago.

"They can, the trick is to utilise them" He told her.

She nodded before she swiped her bangs out of her line of vision.

"To them we are nothing but Slytherin's and Slytherin's don't cry" He told her with a sternest his mother had given him.

She nodded and used the heel of her hand to rub at her tear stained cheeks.

"Stand tall, don't let them know the effect they have" He said firmly. She nodded before a shadow of a smile crossed her features and she was gone.

He walked out of the bathroom, head held high though unaware of the pair of cold grey eyes which had seen the entire encounter, and a small smile of appreciation gracing her thin lips. She studied the way the pale blond walked away, a flicker of recognition befell her and smiled at the thought of the boy who was lost had finally found his way.

* * *

Detentions were always the worst part of the day, though when spent with someone you detested were always worse.

Rose let out a sigh of frustration as the quidditch cup trophy of '97 refused to let go if the brown smudge which it become acquainted with. With frustration she scrubbed at the trophy however no matter how much polish she applied to the cloth, that small smudge was just refusing to be evicted. Rose was certain that serving detentions with no magic had to be the worst punishment ever and she had to wonder how Filch completed such tasks without a wand. With a loud sigh she threw the cloth down on the floor beside her and slid down onto the ground in apparent defeat.

She heard a soft snigger beside her and glanced over to see Scorpius sauntering towards her with an amused smirk. He seemed to be observing the situation with a smile, his steel grey eyes flickered from the fallen cloth to Rose and for some reason she disliked the idea of being the sole object of his gaze.

"You have little patience…" he said with a hint amusement. To be honest Roe was tired, cleaning had taken the brunt of her energy and in retaliation just stuck out her tongue at the blond.

She was half surprise at the smile that formed on his face- an actual smile and not the smirks and sneers which she had grown accustom to.

"Very mature" He quipped before shifting to take a seat next to her on the ground.

She stared at him in confusion, a thick silence between the pair as she continued to assess him. She half expected him to insult her or make some snide remark on her work ethic, however there were none and only silence. Thick silence.

"We should make a truce" Scorpius stated. Rose quickly turned to face him with a raised brow.

"You remember what happened last time…" She muttered with an eye roll. The last so called truce ended with multiple snide remarks, verbal fights and many detentions. Scorpius nodded in agreement as if the same thought had crossed his own mind.

"This time we can make an effort" He suggested.

"Good since I have things I need to focus on" She answered with a sigh.

Scorpius raised a brow in interest and shifted so one leg was bent at an angle for his arm to rest on. The position allowed him to stare intently at Rose, as well as portray his model like physique- which she did not notice (well maybe slightly).

"Fine" He stated before offering at his hand. She hesitated slightly before accepting the handshake, a small smile on her lips as she silently wondered how long this truce was going to last.

* * *

Prefect duty was always the worst, especially when one was scouring the hallways alone. His partner had long since abandoned him to go on date, and that ultimately left him alone. He simply turned a blind eye to the second year Slytherin's playing with a fanged Frisbee, after all he wasn't one to ruin someone's fun- that was Filch's forte.

He turned round one of the multiple hallways, the figure heads of various paintings offering their greetings as he passed when suddenly he felt a pair of hands on his shoulders. He quickly turned around to come face to face with bright sapphire blue eyes and an infectious smile.

"Well it's nice to see you too" She said with a light giggle before jovially walking ahead of him. He quickly shook his head for he was suddenly aware that he had not greeted his friend. Falling into a quick step beside her, he suddenly felt a familiar warmth to his cheeks once she smiled at him once more. Al quickly shook his head, he couldn't understand why he had let Meara have such an effect on him, he had both fancied and dated girls before yet they had never caused him to get flustered at the mere thought of talking or blushing at the sight of a smile.

"What brings you to these parts?" He asked in a voice that feigned all things casual, though he quickly found himself mentally cursing whatever part of his brain decided to ask such a question. She looked confused for a split second before gesturing to the badge placed on her grey sweater, the motion causing Al to once again blush for he was now staring right at her bust.

"Prefect duty…" She stated and Al was grateful that she was blissfully unaware of his uncanny appearance to a tomato.

"Though I was with my partner but he buggered off a long time ago" She continued before humming to herself. Al nodded though to be honest he was entranced by the way she carried herself; curvaceous figure now hidden behind oversized sweaters, bright sapphire blue eyes and chocolate brown curls to suit her elfin face. He frowned at the looks people gave them as they walked the halls; a Slytherin and a Hufflepuff, but opposite ends of the scale yet so similar for hard work and ambition went hand in hand.

"People are wrong you know.." She said quietly as they heading closer to the Slytherin common room, and the hallways were starting to get dotted with more emerald green.

"Wrong about what?" Al asked curiously, his brow slightly raised in confusion. Meara shook her head with a small smile before gesturing to the flurry of students around them, the majority slytherins.. He stared blankly at her waiting for an explanation, and she smiled once more before continuing.

"The reason why I'm alone on prefect duty is because I had an argument with Ezekiel" Albus frowned, wondering why she was telling him this, of course he was somewhat surprised of Meara having an argument with anyone considering she was one the 'nice ones' as he had heard many of his peers describe.

"Did you know that he told me to hang out with 'my own'" She said with a scoff.

Al nodded his head in understanding of course Ezekiel Smith would have certain opinions held towards the Slytherin students, a lot of people did. Though they didn't seem to bother him as much as the thought of Meara refusing to talk to him due the house he was in.

"He's a knob anyways and I can hang out with whoever I like" She said with a wide smile, seemingly thrilled at her use of 'vulgar' language.

Even though he knew Meara wasn't one to judge based on house, he still felt a pang of relief at her voicing her opinions. She frowned before swiftly moving so that she was studying him, her brows were creased and eyes narrowed as if she was studying him.

"You okay, since you don't seem to be doing much of the talking?" She asked with a slight frown. He blushed slightly- he had been caught staring! He mentally slapped himself before offering her a small smile, hopefully he wouldn't guess that something was amiss.

"Just tired and it's pretty late that all" he answered while running a hand through his unruly hair. She nodded though her eyes never left his and the pair were once again plunged into a silence, the two of them walking side by side down a quiet hallway. He shifted his hands in his robe pocket, somewhat nervous over what to do or even to say. Meara Finnegan had this weird effect on him, ever since fourth year when he had seen her on the first Hogsmeade trip of the new year. The snow had fallen and left intricate patterns in her curls and even a few dotted around her nose like frozen freckles and her bright eyes were filled with happiness.

He had tried to forget her smile and eyes; but the thought was easier said than done for every girl he dated he found himself comparing them to Meara and he didn't want to do that for it wasn't fair to anyone.

"You want to raid the kitchens?" Al asked with a grin. She nodded, a wide smile overtaking her features and time seemed to slow once she wrapped her slender fingers around his hand and ran ahead with a cadence of laughter. Albus found himself smiling as he glanced at the girl on front of him, chocolate brown curls dancing behind her and sapphire blue eyes glittering with happiness and he knew that he would do all he could to see her smile like that again.

* * *

 _ **So what did you think if that?**_

 _ **The truce has once again begun, however how long will it last?**_

 ** _Shout out to anyone who recognizes the ghost and who she was thinking of._**

 ** _Remember to stay tuned for the next chapter where Rose forms a new friendship, Albus gets embarrassed and Scorpius gets confused._**

 ** _JustAnotherFairy :)_**


	4. What just happened

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but plot and OC's**

* * *

 **I used to go away for weeks in a state of confusion -**

 **Albert Einstein**

* * *

Most of the students had taken the start of the weekend to spend time in their common rooms; Rose however to her disdain was sewing.

Rose groaned for the umpteenth time as the sewing needle pricked her fingers. She wasn't exactly the best person for hand sewing and Mimi had been very specific about not using any magic for creating their Halloween costumes. Of course with the day of the party coming up rather soon, the girls were starting their costumes rather last minute.

A few of her roommates and Augusta and Mimi had congregated in her room for a costume making session; Suzanne and Kaylee were more than happy for the extra company however their other roommate Jodie wasn't as welcoming.

"couldn't we have just bought them?" Suzanne asked with a huff of annoyance as she placed down the remains of a bright yellow and black dress. Mimi shook her head before turning to face the dark skinned girl.

"I told you already, Suzy, if we all went to Hogsmeade we'll have the same costumes as everyone else" Mimi pointed out in a tone one would use on a child.

"Besides this is actually kind of therapeutic" Augusta chimed in with a smile however that was quickly replaced with a squeal as she poked herself in the hand.

To be honest Rose thought they were putting too much emphasis on the holiday; a large amount of the girls in their year had been planning their outfits since the beginning of the year.

"Hopefully they'll look alright" Kaylee commented as she held up her half finished costume, one of the stripes for the cheerleaders uniform started to peel off and she groaned in embarrassment and started in fixing it.

"We need to hurry up, the party is tomorrow" Jodie White, a burly brunette who no one actually liked, added.

Mimi smiled before pulling up her costume- like Kaylee she had chosen to be a cheerleader, for the two girls were always seen doing things together.

"Awesome!" Kaylee announced with a wide grin. True to her house colours, Mimi had created a black and yellow cheerleaders outfit. The girls all offered multiple words of encouragement to the small brunette, and it left Rose feeling a little harsh about her own sewing skills.

"Do you have to be perfect at everything?" Jodie drawled with a hint of resentment. Rose sent a glare at the brunette, the latter shrugged her shoulders in innocence.

"I wouldn't say perfect" Mimi muttered with a small smile whilst she shyly fidgeting with her costume.

"Why do you have to be such a bitch Jodie?" Rose asked with such venom that the other girls shrunk back in fear that a fight would soon break out. Jodie quickly sat up and narrowed her eyes at the redhead.

"What did you say?" She asked as if almost daring Rose to repeat it. Everyone was silent in the room; Suzanne had taken to glare at Jodie whilst Augusta was huddled in the corner with a worried Mimi next to her. Kaylee sighed loudly before standing in between the two girls in an attempt to cease the tension.

"Look guys let's just leave it" Kaylee suggested, though she was somewhat amused at the situation. Rose shook her head before pointing accusingly at Jodie.

"No Kaylee- she is a bitch and always to Mimi" Rose stated, her eyes narrowed at the brunette. At this Jodie quickly took menacing step forward and it took all of Kaylee's strength to keep the two girls apart- though it was difficult with Jodie's height.

"Maybe we should just forget this happened" Mimi suggested quietly from her space on the ground though it seemed no one was paying the two Hufflepuffs any attention.

"No one even likes you!" Rose spat, the statement causing Jodie to attempt to advance towards her once more. It took both Kaylee and Suzanne to hold the taller girl back, whilst Mimi attempted to calm Rose down.

"And people like you?" Jodie drawled sarcastically. Rose shrugged before nodding.

"No one can stand you, so you take it out on her" Rose shouted as she gestured to Mimi once more.

"Don't make this about me" Mimi muttered with a shake of her head. Kaylee frowned slightly.

"Just don't bother her again" Rose said with a hint of annoyance. Jodie raised a brow, a smirk on her lips- an expression Rose didn't like.

"Or what?" She asked almost as if begging for a fight. Rose shook her head before turning around, Mimi giving her a look of disapproval.

"Rose…" Mimi warned. Rose sighed before turning away, Jodie didn't see this as the end to their argument and attempted to strike the redhead. Jodie's hand connected with Rose's and redhead had her hand placed over her stinging flesh in pain.

"Jodie!" Mimi practically screeched before crouching down to see if Rose was alright. Jodie however held no remorse and shrugged.

"She got in the way" Jodie shrugged before Suzanne barged passed her to get to Rose.

"It shouldn't bruise too bad…" Mimi commented "We need some ice"

"There isn't any bloody ice here" Rose hissed, her hand still placed on her cheek. Mimi frowned before gently helping her up.

"Them we'll go to the kitchens" Mimi suggested as she started on pulling on Rose's arm. Rose frowned before allowing the smaller girl to pull her out of her room, though she did feel some sort of comfort in leaving Jodie with two very angry Gryffindor's.

Rose hissed loudly as Mimi not so lightly placed a bag of ice on her face. The sound caused the small house elf that offered the ice bag to quickly scurry away in fear. The coldness against her searing skin was not a good combination.

"Merlin's sake- are you trying to burn my face off!" She practically shrieked as she whacked the makeshift ice bag from her face. Mimi pouted before shoving back onto her face once more.

"Stop being a baby and that's what you get for getting into fights" Mimi muttered with a small smile. Rose frowned before crossing her arms.

"Hello defending your honour- Jodie was being a bitch to you and I'm tired of it" Rose countered.

Mimi shook her head sadly before shifting to sit on her knees.

"I am grateful...it's just...the next time that happens ignore it okay everyone else does" She said sadly.

Rose sighed before crawling over to sit next to her friend, the ice back still pressed firmly against the bruise.

"Mimi has this happened before...and not just with Jodie?" Rose asked quietly. There was a short silence before Mimi nodded, her dark brown curls had shifted so they covered her eyes but Rose could tell she was crying.

"Why...why didn't you say anything?" Rose asked once she'd found her voice. Mimi shook her head before using the heel of her hand to wipe at her eyes.

"It's just everyone they look up to me. My sister, my teammates- I can't look weak Rose" She said before placing her head in her hands. Rose was silent, never having to deal with crying people she was at a loss of what to do. She gently placed a hand on the smaller girl's back and to her surprise she started to laugh.

"You really aren't good at this" Mimi commented with a thick accent, something that seemed to come up whenever she was upset or angry. Rose shrugged before smiling.

"I'm the wrong person for comforting" Rose countered. Mimi nodded in agreement, though she rubbed at her eyes in the process.

"But great for getting slapped in the face- I'd say it's karma for burning me" Mimi added with a small grin. Rose smiled before lightly shoving her friend.

"I always knew you had a mean streak, Finnegan" Rose laughed "And as for getting slapped- I consider you an acquaintance" She added. Mimi placed the back of her hand dramatically against her chest.

"Only an acquaintance?" She asked with mock hurt before the door to the kitchens was swung open revealing a messy haired Al and calm looking Scorpius. Al instantly noticed the ice bag on Rose's face and had quickly cleared the distance to get a closer look.

"Oh merlin, Rose what happened?" He asked as he got a look at the yellowing bruise. Mimi shifted slightly in her space and Rose shrugged.

"That bitch Jodie White" She stated with a shrug. Al's eyes widened before placing the ice bag back on the bruise.

"Jodie as in big Jodie your room mate?" Al asked on shock. Rose laughed at his expression and nodded.

"Yep that's the one" Rose answered though she noticed how unamused Scorpius looked and she somewhat deflated.

"What brought this on?" He asked before helping himself to one of the many potatoes left from dinner.

Rose gestured to Mimi, the small Hufflepuff shyly waved at him which caused her cousin to practically choke at having not noticed her beforehand. Scorpius rolled his eyes at the action whilst Mimi attempted to stifle her own laughter however a small grin had appeared on her lips.

"Jodie was being a bitch to Mimi, we shouted and then she slapped me" Rose stated with a shrug. Albus nodded once his coughing fit had stopped and he abruptly turned to floor in embarrassment.

"I should probably go…"Mimi stated before standing, she turned to face Al and gently poked his shoulder.

"Want to walk me back?" She asked with a hopeful smile. Rose almost face palmed at the way Al dumbly stared at her, though it seemed he finally found himself able to respond and quickly nodded. Mimi offered the pair a smile before disappearing out the door behind Albus and Rose found herself alone with Scorpius.

She had been crying.

He knew that much from the way her ocean blue orbs were red and puffy as if been rubbed raw and her voice thick with emotion. Her usually immaculate hair was tousled and her clothing out of sorts.

"Hasn't anyone told you it's rude to stare" She commented as they passed a row if paintings. Meara had insisted on taking a detour round the castle, though Al was more than happy to oblige he was somewhat curious as to what or who she was trying to avoid and in this late hour they were the only ones occupying the hallway.

"Sorry...it's just" He paused at the way she stared expectantly at him and he found himself running his hand through his hair with frustration and nervousness.

"You were crying" He stated, though he suddenly regretted addressing the elephant in the room directly.

She stiffened slightly before quickly brushing some of her hair behind her ear.

"I...I was" She said quietly before speeding up her pace slightly. Al quickly walked into step beside her and ignored the way the painting angrily chastised him.

"They're wrong you know.." He said, mirroring the very words Meara had said to him down the corridor leading to the Slytherin common room. She seemed to remember and smiled at him slightly, though it wasn't one of her usual smiles this was sad and the usual sparkle was missing from her ocean blue eyes.

"Wrong about what?" She asked. He smiled before taking a step towards her and unfolded her arms, her expression softened and a small blush appeared on her tanned cheeks.

"I've heard what they've said-" He started his large hands engulfing her smaller ones. "It's all troll dung by the way" He added, glad that the statement was causing her to smile.

"You're a dork" She said with disbelief at his large goofy grin. He smiled before shaking his head.

"Maybe, but I'm a dork who knows a good person when I see them" He added, his grin widening at the way she smiled. She gently withdrew her hands from his and Albus noticed that after their detour they had arrived back where they started at the barrels next to the kitchens.

She headed towards the barrels almost as if to knock, however she quickly turned round and placed a kiss against his cheek. His face instantly grew warm and he noticed her own face was tinged with pink.

"You're still a dork" She stated before knocking on the barrels and disappearing into the Hufflepuff common room. He smiled, a goofy grin as he slowly placed his hand against his warm cheek and he decided that he was glad to be a dork.

* * *

The two had been sitting in silence for some time, Rose with half her face numb and Scorpius watching the house elves scurry around with disinterest.

"Didn't think you were foolish enough to get into a slap fight" Scorpius commented, the statement caused Rose to raise a brow at his sarcastic tone.

"Well that's just me, foolish Rose getting into slap fights" She spat before abruptly throwing her ice bag at the platinum blond. To her dismay he caught it one handed and silently placed it between them at their feet.

"You don't think before you act" He stated as he stared down at the ice bag before turning to face her. His brows were furrowed and his steel grey orbs were giving her direct eye contact.

She scoffed slightly before rubbing at her bruised cheek, so what if she acted on impulse it had always been the norm in quidditch- react quickly to the bludger, react quickly in the game. And in her own way, life was a whole lot like quidditch- Jodie was just the bludger she failed to hit.

"Stop touching it…" He stated before grasping her wrist, she opened her mouth to protest however no words formed and she found herself dumbly staring at the way his fingers encased her wrist. His gaze briefly flickered to her cheek and she found herself blushing at him being so close.

"Hmm it doesn't look too bad…" He muttered as he abruptly released her wrist.

"What are doing-" She asked, however she found herself quickly stiffening as he placed the very tips of his fingers against the bruise and Rose was certain she felt her heart rate increase at being in such close proximity to another person.

"Not too bad at all" He told her, seemingly unaware of her blush "Your bruise will fade in time" He added before removing his hand from her cheek. Rose quickly shifted to standing position and headed towards the door, though Scorpius was next to her and she found herself both nervous and confused once more.

"Just think next time, Weasley" He told her before walking out of the kitchens and leaving Rose to contemplate what in merlin's name just happened.

* * *

 _ **So what did you think of that?**_

 _ **Next chapter is The Halloween special party where things will happen so stay tuned.**_

 _ **JustAnotherFairy :)**_


	5. Halloween gut punch

**Disclaimer: I own nothing but plot.**

* * *

 **'And it felt like I was punched in the gut'-**

 **S.**

* * *

Since it was the weekend they didn't have any classes and also that they had the whole day to prepare for the upcoming party. Of course the school had just held their annual Halloween dinner; something which the first years always enjoyed which left the girls the rest of the night to prepare.

Rose grimaced as she took in her reflection once more, the girls had decided on using the abandoned girls bathroom to reside in for their current activities and the ghost inhabiting it was getting on her last nerve.

"You do look a little pale…" The ghost commented before erupting into a high pitched cackle. Rose stiffened at the sound, Myrtle the ghost currently haunting the girls bathroom had already made snide comments about Rose's complexion - the majority of them having to do with having pale skin.

The ghost had taken to gliding rings around the girls, flying through them and hovering about and generally just being a pest. It was being used as a human wall that gave Rose a chill and it turned out Augusta felt the same, for every time the ghost would come near her a sound reminiscent to a whimper would escape her which lead to the blonde being the ghost's favourite victim.

"Perhaps you're ill?" Myrtle asked, now hovering above Rose's head with her face tilted as if examining her.

Mimi took a glance at the redhead, a small frown formed on her lips and her brows furrowed slightly.

"No it's just her face" Mimi commented which earned her a nudge from Rose.

She rubbed the sore spot with an arm whilst frowning at the redhead "But it's true" She added in defense.

"Just ignore her…" Kaylee muttered as she continued on tying the lace of Rose's black corset. The added force on her ribs caused her to stagger slightly and the lack of air was making her dizzy.

"It's a little tight..." Rose commented as black stars started to fill her vision, it was Augusta who acted first for the blonde quickly loosened the lace tying the corset and thus allowed Rose the luxury of air once more. However before she could celebrate Myrtle was once again gliding around them and even flew straight through Augusta causing the blonde to let out a yelp.

The blonde was clutching her stomach and her face looked a little pale.

"I hate when she does that...makes me feel sick" The blonde commented from her new hiding space behind Rose.

Rose huffed in annoyance which caused the ghost girl to glide down before looping rings around them, Rose was certain she was doing it to annoy her.

Kaylee was busy applying concealer to the bruise on Rose's cheek it had since turned an ugly purple colour and with the help of make up Rose hoped to hide it or at least not make its existence so prominent.

Kaylee stepped back to admire her handiwork and soon both Augusta and Mimi were by her side examining the make up they helped to apply.

"She needs more under her eye" Mimi stated and with a nod she Kaylee a generous amount into Rose's skin.

Myrtle however decided to voice her opinions, she smirked before swooping through Augusta and a childlike cackle escaped her at the blonde's frightened expression

"You're making it worse" The ghost girl said in a singsong voice half her body was visible through the floor and she sported a childlike grin on her face. Rose frowned and without thinking she had thrown the foundation brush at the ghost girl, however being both dead and a ghost it went straight through her translucent body and fell to the floor with a dull thud.

"Just bugger off!" Rose shouted, her temper clearly getting the better of her. There was a pregnant pause where Rose instantly regretted shouting at a ghost since she abruptly swooped towards her with an expression of pure anger, her childlike grin swiped clan off her features.

"How about you live in a toilet with no one to visit you!" She screeched, the sound causing all the girls to cover their ears. In a fit of despair she swooped through Augusta once more and then plunged down the nearest sink. There was a split second before the pipes rattled and whined and suddenly water had burst from the taps, sinks and sewage pipes abruptly flooding the bathroom.

"You had to piss of moaning Myrtle!" Kaylee exclaimed over the sound of water spraying everywhere. Rose shrugged whilst Mimi wailed in sadness; her hair and clothes now stuck to her face whilst Augusta hid in the corner hoping that Myrtle wouldn't appear again.

Rose innocently shrugged before the sound Myrtle's high pitched laughter could be heard from one of the cubicles.

* * *

The Gryffindor common room was decorated to be as festive as possible; cobwebs hung from the ceiling, charmed pumpkins floated around which students had to dodge to avoid getting hit and floating masks shrieked into unsuspecting students faces.

A small record player was placed in the corner of the room, a charm placed over it to make it louder and students continued to pour in as the night progressed. She had promised to meet her roommates, Mimi and Augusta down in the common room since they were all still getting ready and Mimi was always one for showing up fashionably late. However in their absence she was stuck with the company of Matteus Wilson.

"I helped charm the room myself.." Mattheus Wilson, a fifth year Ravenclaw stated with pride as Rose boredly sat in the common room. She feigned a look of interest before nodding and Mattheus took this as opportunity to continue. It wasn't that he was bad looking, he was tall slightly muscular from his position as beater however he was just a little too cocky.

"Your cousin even asked for help charming the record player" He added with pride. She nodded before taking a gulp of her drink hoping that alcohol would make the night better and perhaps blur out Mattheus' voice.

She stood awkwardly as students danced around whilst Mattheus continued on with his vast knowledge of decor charms. She could see her younger brother with his girlfriend and by the record player, her older cousin James with a small group of girls from her year each of them animatedly listening to his drunken rambling. She barely had enough time to roll her eyes before someone had their arms draped over her shoulders, with the majority of their weight on her.

"Get wasted!" A tall seventh year boy screamed before abruptly passing out on the floor into a deep sleep. Whilst Mattheus was preoccupied with making sure the seventh year was still breathing, Rose took this as cue to slip away.

"Rose!" Mimi screamed as she frantically waved her pom poms around however in the process her fire whiskey spilt on the ground. Her friend was sporting her cheerleading outfit, a short yellow and black pleated skirt with a matching vest shirt, the words 'cheer' printed across her bust in black felt.

Rose glanced around, noticing that Augusta, who had promised to come to the party wasn't present.

"Well we kind of had pre drinks and then Augie couldn't stop pre drinking and then passed out" Mimi explained before taking a sip of her fire whiskey bottle.

Rose shook her head in disbelief before taking the bottle from her friend.

"You've had a little much" Rose stated before taking a sip of the bottle herself, she shook her head at the taste before handing it back to the smaller girl who grinned in response before greedily downing it's contents.

The sound of the music echoed loudly through the common room and the drunken slurs of her housemates was getting somewhat irritating. She squeezed her way through a large group of Ravenclaws though the looks they gave her proved they were far from impressed, though in the commotion she manged to lose Mimi.

"Don't have to be so rough" Her cousin Al remarked whilst walking over towards her. Rose smiled slightly before punching him on his arm and Al feigned a look of mock hurt.

"What are you supposed to be?" Rose asked, poking her cousin in the arm. Al groaned before brushing away her hand. His costume consisted of a large Letterman jacket she had seen in the muggle American televised shows, dark jeans and to top it off his face was painted to appear like a zombie.

"A zombie jock…" He answered his hands outstretched and a smile on his face. Rose nodded and glanced past her cousin, walking through the mass of students was Scorpius. With his usual confidence he swaggered through, ignoring the looks he got for his lack of costume.

"Always one to make an effort…" Al commented, his voice thick with sarcasm. In response the blond simply shook his head with a knowing smirk. Even when dressed in muggle clothing he seemed to make a statement, his black suit fit him like a glove exposing his broad shoulders and toned arms whilst his metallic silver tie managed to bring out the intensity of his eyes.

"Found you!" A high pitched voice squealed, and turning Rose realised that it was in fact Mimi "You're supposed to wear a costume, Scorpius" Mimi called out as she walked over to the group. At her presence Al quickly froze and Rose playfully nudged him in the arm.

Around any other girl her cousin was fine and actually able to speak coherent sentences, however when Mimi was involved he lost all ability to speak, it probably also made it worse that she had kissed him in the cheek the other night which once again left her cousin in a flustered state.

Scorpius glanced between Al and Mimi a small smirk on his face before he shrugged.

"Seems as if I've been out shined" He stated off handedly, though a small smirk still remained.

"Well you kind of stand out...since this is a Halloween party" Mimi added before taking a rather large sip of firewhiskey.

"Says the one who looks the least scary here" Rose teased. Mimi smiled before glancing down at her own attire, in her short pleated cheerleaders skirt, her outfit left little to the imagination.

"I was going for cute" She countered before a pause "You on the other hand seem to be giving the girls some air" She added with loud drunken laughter. At this Rose quickly turned beet red and slowly folded her arms over her chest. Her own costume consisted of black leather pants, a corset and heels that threatened to break her ankle and to top it all off, a pair of furry cat ears.

Seemingly pleased, Mimi grasped Al by the shoulder and proceeded to pull him away, Rose thought her friend reminded her of an acromantula dragging away it's prey. Her cousin glanced back at her, an expression of confusion on his face and Rose ushered him on. She watched with a grin as Al allowed Mimi to pull him off into a secluded corner.

"He really likes her.." She commented once the two were out of earshot.

"I suppose" Scorpius added, an unreadable expression on his face as he gently swirled around the contents of his bottle.

Rose scoffed, she couldn't understand how Scorpius couldn't just be happy for Al.

"I suppose?" She asked with a deep voice in an attempt to mimic him. Scorpius spared her a glance before turning back to his bottle.

"Must you be so childish?" He asked before taking a sip of his own folded her arms before sticking out her tongue, the action causing Scorpius to shake his head in disbelief.

"Childish?" She asked with her eyes narrowed. Scorpius scoffed at her tone.

"Yes Rose, childish. After all you did get into a slap fight even though you are a wizard with a wand" He stated firmly.

Rose scoffed once more, though she suddenly felt flustered at the memory of her and Scorpius in the kitchens after the event.

"I thought we promised not to bring that up again" Rose challenged, blaming her heated cheeks on the alcohol and she was now very annoyed at Scorpius fr making her feel like...well a schoolgirl. He only shrugged in response whilst Rose watched him.

"I lied" He told her before taking a sip of his bottle.

"And anyway I was defending Mimi's honour" Rose stated before swaying slightly, just how drunk was she.

"I think Finnegan can defend her own honour, Weasley" Scorpius stated with a scoff.

Rose frowned before placing a hand on Scorpius' upper arm, drunk Rose was definitely a touchy Rose.

"Whats with the surnames?" she asked with a scowl.

"My name is Rose..but not the flower because I don't have thorns" She added, a giggle escaping her at the sound of her own name.

Scorpius shook his head with what appeared to be a smile, she turned to face him and instantly regretted it, as the entire room started to spin.

"Fine then, Rose" Scorpius stated and Rose found herself smiling at the way her name sounded coming from his own lips.

"Now that wasn't so bad?" She asked in a childlike tone and her entire body weight shifting onto the tall blond, however to her surprise he made no effort to move her.

"No it wasn't" He answered with a tone Rose couldn't place, however before she could dwell on it any further she felt the all too familiar urge to pee.

"I need the loo" She stated, her body swaying slightly when she pushed herself away from Scorpius.

She continued walking through the common room and not looking where she was heading ended up bumping into a small person on the floor. She quickly righted herself and dusted off her costume before glancing down at the small figure huddled on the ground.

With the figure's knees planted firmly in front of her and her head buried in them, Rose wasn't able to see their face however even in her drunken state was very aware of the sound of sobs escaping them.

Having nothing better to do- and suddenly forgetting to pee, Rose sat down next to the figure and gingerly outstretched a hand on the figures arm.

"You okay?" She quietly asked, the figure slowly raised their head and Rose was surprised to see the tear stained face of her friend Mimi.

There was a split second before Mimi abruptly burst into tears, her head now placed on Rose's chest as she continued to sob. Rose sighed before slowly placing a hand on Mimi's back and started on lightly patting her. Rose was never one to comfort crying people, to be honest they sort of scared her for when a person cried they were at their most vulnerable and they were essentially opening a part of them that no one else saw. Which was why Rose didn't cry.

"There there…?" Rose cooed as her friend continued to sob, silently hoping that her words would help calm her friends tears. Rose was starting on regretting sitting with her friend for if she continued walking her chest wouldn't be soaked with tears.

"I-I've spoiled everything!" Mimi exclaimed between sobs. Rose frowned slightly before rubbing circles in her friends back.

"Mimi you've done nothing wrong" Rose stated, however this only caused Mimi so sob louder.

"I did- how could I have been so stupid!" She practically shrieked which caused Rose to jump slightly.

"You're not stupid" Rose cooed, her hand still gently rubbing her friends back in an attempt to calm her down. She was silent for a full minute however before Rose could even think of celebrating, Mimi let out a loud wail.

"I kissed Al and then h-he pushed me away…" Mimi sobbed.

"You did?" Rose asked dumbly, though there was a small smile on her face. At this Mimi bolted upright before crying once more.

"It's not funny Rose. Albus pushed my away after I kissed him- he didn't kiss me back!" She sobbed before placing her head into her hands.

Rose didn't know what to do, she never had many girlfriends in the past so wasn't accustomed to comforting them. There was only so much a 'there there' could do and Rose felt that in this situation such words wouldn't be much use. She needed someone smart, who always had something to say...

"Scorpius" She said out loud, a triumphant grin on her face. With the sudden exclamation Mimi didn't seem impressed, her features had turned to a scowl and her arms folded.

"How does Scorpius fit into this?" Mimi asked with a hint of anger, however with her features it was more like a mouse trying to be imitate a lion.

"He's Al's friend..and maybe can knock some sense into him" Rose stated with a grin however her small friend looked less than pleased.

Rose quickly stood and glanced around for Scorpius in hopes that he would know what to do and perhaps talk some sense into her cousin. Mimi had stopped crying and had reduced to silent sobs, allowing Rose to take the opportunity to talk to Scorpius. Making her way through he party she spotted him talking to a tall brunette dressed a horned devil- Jodie White. She took a step forward, however in that same second Jodie White, a girl she loathed and Scorpius Malfoy were kissing.

Frozen in place she stared at the pair and an unfamiliar feeling of being punched in the gut overcame her and Rose turned and walked away.

Walking back to the wall, she found Mimi the small girl was solemnly swirling her bottle in gentle circles and her back slouched against the wall as if she had given up.

Silently Rose collapsed onto the ground, and the girls exchanged a glance before Mimi placed the bottle in the red heads hands with a blank faraway look on her features which Rose wasn't used to. Without a word Rose picked up the bottle, tilted her head back and took a large gulp, however that feeling of being punched in the gut didn't disappear.

* * *

 _ **So what did you think of that?**_

 _ **Halloween 2k15 was fun, sadly I didn't make it as much fun in this story.**_

 _ **Stay tuned for the next chapter where we see the morning after and what was going through Scorpius' head to kiss Jodie White Ew.**_


	6. Insanity (not the workout)

**Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Harry Potter, I'm too poor for that.**

* * *

 **'We're all mad here'**

 **\- Cheshire Cat**

* * *

The next morning presented Rose with a pounding headache, sandpaper like throat and a terrible stomach. A bright light shone in through the window and Rose gingerly outstretched her arm in an attempt to draw her hangings shut, however upon opening her eyes she realised that she wasn't in her own room. The deep red hangings she were used to were replaced with a black and mustard yellow; Chudley Cannons posters were stuck to the walls, their players whizzing about with glee and badger plushes decorated- or rather scattered against the floor.

Rose groaned, the back of her hand places against her eyes in an attempt to shield them from the bright light for it was too early to even think of getting up. She collapsed back into the bed, any normal person would have been worried about waking up in some strange room, Rose didn't exactly class herself as normal and besides it was too early to be worrying about things so the redhead settled on trying to catch some much needed rest.

However it seemed that the universe or her added company had other plans as the loud noise of someone singing a tune with a happiness for such an early hour filled her ears. With a groan Rose turned over to her front the action serving as somewhat uncomfortable due to her crushing her own bust and she proceeded to bury her head underneath the large pillow.

 _"Read between the lines whats fucked up and everything's alright check my vital signs-"_

Rose was one to appreciate all types of music from the wizarding and the muggle world, however with the worst hangover in history she didn't exactly appreciate Green Day being belted at stupid o'clock in the morning, so with a loud groan she pressed her face closer into the mattress in the hopes of drowning out the Boulevard of Broken Dreams.

"Oh, Rose..you're awake" Mimi muttered. Rose lifted her head out from under her pillow cave at the moment she looked a mess; her auburn hair in tangles, her eyes bloodshot and last nights make up smeared over her face.

Seemingly noticing Roses expression Mimi shuffled awkwardly, the towel wrapped around her head was now hung pathetically over her hair and she tightly clutched at mustard yellow bath robe tied at her waist.

"Sorry about the singing...it's just mornings make me happy" She added with an apologetic smile. and Rose groaned, this girl was just too cheery so early in the morning and it was almost sickening.

"Hmm that _must_ be nice for you…" She responded her voice dripping with sarcasm, her legs swinging off the edge of the bed in an attempt to get up.

"Was that sarcasm...because I can't really tell" Mimi muttered, her gaze now focused on the floor. Rose shrugged in response, there were even times when she couldn't even tell when she was being sarcastic- she had gotten that good.

A small figure of what appeared to be a badger was doing cartwheels across the large dresser table, due it being a Hufflepuff dorm room this explained the vast amount of Badger themed produce. Someone clearly had house pride.

"So this is your room then?" Rose asked, her eyes darting around the room which was painfully bright. Mimi nodded, she pulled off the towel to reveal damp chocolate brown curls and started on picking up items of clothing from the floor.

"Yeah," She paused before gesturing to her jeans and Rose quickly turned around.

"You were um...really drunk and so I brought you here since I couldn't go up to yours without another Gryffindor" Mimi explained now fully dressed.

Rose nodded in understanding, she rubbed the last remnants of sleep from her eyes before standing and upon looking at the mirror noticed her thick auburn hair was an untamed mess.

Glancing around she noticed the other beds were all empty and neatly made. Rose had already known Augusta since her own family had a longtime friendship with Professor Longbottom, however Mimi's other roommates were three very 'enthusiastic' girls and to be honest Rose didn't want to get to know them.

"So where are your roommates?" Rose asked, her fingers now entangled in her mass of curls she had to tug on her wrist with her free hand to release her fingers from their snare.

"Down at breakfast-" Mimi added before adding some foundation to her face "Where we should be…well after you change" She added with a sing song voice. Rose groaned realising that she was still in fact wearing her cat costume from the previous night. On weekends the students were allowed to wear whatever they wanted however Rose doubted that corsets were allowed to be seen during meal times.

Mimi smiled at Rose's horror and the two of them heading through the Hufflepuff common room. The groups of first year students glanced at her before whispering, it wasn't common for an outsider to be in their common room, for one it was against the rules and two it was of a secret location. There were very few people who had actually seen the Hufflepuff common room, her uncle and father had been to every common except the Hufflepuffs so Rose knew that this was an experience she was to be sharing during the christmas break.

She felt somewhat uneasy due to the vast number of eyes watching her as they headed to common room exit, however Rose knew that Hufflepuff's weren't exactly known for being violent so she was confident that they weren't going to hex her.

"None of this to Professor Bones" Mimi said with a wide smile and the Hufflepuff students nodded in unison.

They exited the common room and Rose was surprised that they were now outside of a large stack of barrels and next to kitchens.

"So this is-" She said in awe, glancing around the door from which they had just been.

"Meet me in the great hall okay" Mimi stated before walking ahead "And not a word about…you know" She added before disappearing into the small gathering crowd of students.

Rose turned heading towards the Gryffindor tower when she saw Scorpius. The last night's events replayed over and over in her mind like film on the muggle televisions and she instantly felt the same feelings of dread in the pit of her stomach. Al noticed her first and offered her a smile and when she didn't return it an expression of confusion flickered over his features.

She quickly walked past the pair, her head lowered and gaze averted to the floor and she knew it was going to be more difficult to forget than she first anticipated.

* * *

It was too cold to congregate outside by the lake like they used to, so after breakfast that girls had taken to studying in the library. Rose was sitting at one of the desks, a copy of Quidditch Weekly sat opened next to her, however her focus was set on finishing her ancient runes essay.

Mimi was sprawled out against one of the book shelves avidly reading ' _Th_ _e Monstrous Book of_ Monsters' , Kaylee sitting on one of the desks and Augusta and Suzanne sitting either side of her. Rose stayed clear of the book, memories of her third year were coming back to her where the book failed to behave in her presence.

Kaylee was animatedly talking, her arms waving about as if to demonstrate what was happening, the story causing Suzanne to loudly giggle a sound which was proving to be distracting.

"-And then he passes out next to, right Rose?" kaylee asked. Rose placed her quill down with a scowl, Augusta shuffled away slightly to avoid her mood whilst the rest of the girls watched her intently.

"You seem a bit out of it today…" Augusta muttered out as she started inspecting Rose. The rest of the girls hummed in agreement, causing Rose to sigh.

"Just leave her…" Mimi muttered before closing her book. The book growled in protest causing Augusta to flinch slightly, like Rose she also had bad luck with the book.

"She's probably still hungover" Kaylee commented, though Rose was vaguely listening.

Though Rose had started to feel more comfortable around the other girls, she felt most at ease with Mimi. Kaylee and Suzanne were nice enough and were her roommates, though sometimes they didn't seem to understand her dark humor or obsessive love of Quidditch. She found to have slightly more in common with the Augusta and Mimi, though Augusta was more closed in than her slightly more louder roommate.

Rose's own roommates, Kaylee and Suzanne would stay up hours on end gossiping about the other boys in their year, make up and sometimes even other girls. Sometimes she felt as if the two Gryffindor's tolerated her more than being her actual friends.

"So Mimi…" Suzanne started with a clap of her hands and a wide grin across her face.

"Rumour has it that you and Al were getting it on last night" The dark skinned girl stated before letting out a giggle.

As if sensing the small girls unease her book started to loudly growl which caused Suzanne to tense slightly.

"Um…." Mimi muttered, her hand gently stroking the books spine in an attempt to calm it.

"You know rumours…they're just rumours" Mimi said with an added weak laughter.

Suzanne leaned forward with a wide grin, and gently nudged Kaylee the two Gryffindor's looking very interested.

"So it's true...you two snogged?" Suzanne asked with curiosity, whilst Mimi muttered incoherent sentences with her cheeks slowly turning pink.

Rose shook her head in disbelief before poking Suzanne in the ribs. The dark skinned girl let out a small yelp before turning to face Rose with a slight frown whilst slowly rubbing at where Rose had poked her.

Though the conversation wasn't directed at her, Rose just wished to forget that the previous night ever happened and finish her essay. However with her roommates gossiping this didn't seem very likely.

"Don't bother listening to rumours, Suzy, they're just made up by gits with no lives" Rose snapped rather darkly, her gaze fixed on Suzanne.

She probably didn't need to be so forceful with Suzanne, however she was starting to get rather irritated with all the talk about the night she so desperately wanted to forget. Suzanne and Kaylee exchanged confused glances, whilst both Mimi and Augusta kept their heads lowered in an attempt to avoid a possible upcoming confrontation.

If there was one thing Rose had in common with Suzanne Jordan it was their tempers. It took Rose a split second to realise what she had just said to her friend, and before she could take it back Suzanne was already stood up and her features had formed a scowl.

"You call Jodie a bitch, yet you're both the same. And you wonder why we're your friends " Suzanne shot back icily and she hastily got up and stormed off.

Kaylee glanced around the direction which Suzanne had left and offered an apologetic smile before following after their roommate.

Rose visibly deflated, she propped her elbows onto the table and buried her head into her hands. The group were reduced to silence and Rose was sure she could almost feel the pair of eyes watching her and abruptly turned to glare at Augusta.

"Anything interesting?" Rose challenged, the dangerous edge to her tone had clearly made Augusta nervous and the blonde quickly left to avoid Rose's temper.

Rose sighed, a hand running through her hair in frustration. She'd made a mess, snapped at her friends and she felt terrible. Her temper was terrible and the fact that the last night even happened made it a whole lot worse, and she couldn't help but feel that Suzanne was right. She wasn't exactly 'little miss popular' her peers avoided her like the plague and in her lessons, trying to find a partner was easier said than done.

"You could have handled that better you know…"Mimi commented quietly, her gaze soft and a small smile on her face. Not liking the attention on someone else, Mimi's book once again growled and the brunette gently stroked it's spine to calm it down.

Rose found herself shaking her head in disbelief, it didn't matter what she did but Mimi would always remain by her side she was like a loyal crup.

"Still here are we?" Rose asked with the same dangerous edge she had used on Augusta, however either Mimi was too foolish too realise or simply ignored it. Rose assumed it was a bit of both.

"You remind me a lot of my sister" The smaller girl commented offhandedly, before placing her now quiet book in her lap. Rose frowned, Mimi's sister was a tall and somewhat stocky girl in her fourth year and had a rather notorious reputation among her classmates.

"In what way?" Rose asked slightly interested. Mimi hummed quietly whilst kicking her legs against the edge of the table.

"Well you both have a temper" She stated, which caused Rose to snigger slightly.

"And both have trouble opening up to other people…" Mimi added before producing a bag as if out of thin air and offering Rose one of the blocks of fudge inside.

Rose smiled before pulling one out the bag, and enjoyed the soft taste of the candy.

"Mimi I-"

"Don't want to talk about it" Mimi finished, a dreamy smile on her face once she had pulled out another block of fudge.

"Saoirse...she's the same. And like I always say to her; I'm here if you need me" Mimi added before removing herself from the table and walking down library aisle.

Rose smiled somewhat, though most thought of Mimi as just a girl of good looks she was rather insightful when need be. Perhaps it wouldn't hurt to have a bit girl talk after all they both needed it after the night they had.

Quickly getting out of her seat and practically running out the library, Rose just about managed to catch up with her small friend and with the smile on her face Rose mused that Mimi knew she were coming.

"Kitchens?" Rose asked with a shrug.

"Kitchens" Mimi confirmed with a nod and the two girls both heartbroken linked arms and headed for the kitchens.

* * *

The previous night had offered an interesting turn of events, once the Halloween festivities had turned to full swing Scorpius found his inhibitions had lowered and that a once grotesque girl appeared to be very snoggable. However what had confused him was the way Rose had not so subtlety avoided him and his friends earlier that morning. As far as he was concerned the two of them were acquaintances slowly walking down the road of friendship, so somewhere down that road something had happened to make her want to avoid him.

He couldn't understand why that bothered him, he had remembered the two of them getting on somewhat the night before so Scorpius was sure that he hadn't said anything to offend her which meant there was another factor at play.

The thought of Jodie White wrapping her arms around his neck in a vice like grip had him almost grimacing, however even in a drunken state he knew what she was and hastily pushed her away.

 _ ***Flashback time***_

 _The music echoed loudly and it was almost deafening to his ears, he was stood alone and awkwardly waiting for Rose to return after she left to um...relieve herself._

 _A number of girls who recognized to be in their fourth year walked passed him, clearly someone had to have given them alcohol since they themselves wouldn't have been able to make it passed the age charm._

 _Ignoring them he managed to swiftly avoid them however not looking directly where he was going bumped into another person. The alcohol was making him slightly dizzy and he assumed that he should stop now before he did something which he wild regret._

" _Fancy running into you...Scorpius" a husky voice drawled._

 _The platinum blond turned his attention away from his soaked trousers and back to the girl in front of him. He had never spoken much to Jodie White, she was a girl mist of his year and many other year groups detested._

 _Though she was attractive, with her long legs and heart shaped face her tendency to make snide remarks and bully those she thought weaker made her rather ugly._

 _He managed to recompose himself despite his obviously drunken state and offered the girl a small ghost of a smile._

" _This is a party, is it not?" He asked trying to avoid furthering the conversation however it seemed Jodie had other ideas._

" _You're not alone are you?" She asked before glancing around, almost as if looking for someone._

" _I saw you with Rose earlier...you were lucky to get away" She added with a snort._

" _Why was I lucky?" He asked with little interest._

 _Jodie shrugged before taking a step closer, one of her hands was on his arm and she was starting to get dangerously close._

" _She was just using you to get away from Matteus...you know the fifth year if you think she has any interest in you you're wrong she's as cold and twisted as I am" Jodie sated with such venom that Scorpius was sure that she had become even uglier in his eyes than before._

 _He didn't know why her words affected him, sure Rose and him were just friends since their little truce and she could do whatever she wanted however the thought of her using him never crossed his mind until now._

 _It was then that Jodie seemed to hunk her job was done and without warning she had sloppily placed her lips over his own almost as if trying to devour him. He placed his hands on her shoulders in an attempt to prevent another one of her kisses and managed to get her hold on him to be diminished._

 _Once they had parted the tall brunette scowled and briefly spared hum a glance before abruptly turning away from him._

 _ ***N'aww no more flashback time***_

However it seemed that his friends had witnessed the event and we're more than prepared to make sure that he never forgot.

"Seen Jodie lately?" His soon to be ex-roommate Kai Zabini asked with a smirk as they left the great hall after breakfast.

Scorpius remained impassive, his face void if all emotion as he stared blankly at his dark skinned friend.

"Not this morning" He responded, though his friends smirk still remained plastered across his face.

His other roommate and friend Al, who happened to be the more sensible of the lot (well most of the time) shook his head in disbelief.

"No need to tease him, Kai" Al commented with a shake of his head, he draped an arm over Scorpius' shoulders and stood between him and Kai, thus planting himself in the middle.

"Snogging Jodie was punishment enough" Al added with a grin which resulted in both him and Kai falling into a loud chorus of laughter. Scorpius groaned, it seemed even Al was involved in making his life a misery and he just hoped to get the memories of last night behind him.

"Hey Al, didn't you waltz off with Finnegan at one point?" Kai asked with curiosity. Scorpius didn't miss the way Al's eyes widened or how he started to turn quite red, much like Rose's hair.

Before he could wonder why he was comparing the two or how the thought slipped into his mind, Al muttering incoherent sentences brought him out of his thoughts. The boy was really pathetic when it came to any conversation about the small Hufflepuff girl.

"-She was drunk...I not so much" He stated his hands up in a surrender whilst Kai continued to laugh.

"Yes Al, Finnegan was very drunk and you a gentleman" Scorpius commented and thus brought Al's rambling to a close.

"A fit girl snogs you...and you push her away..?" Kai stated in confusion at the situation. Scorpius nodded, before attending Hogwarts both of his parents had made sure he knew the proper way in which to treat women.

"Of course, a drunk woman isn't able to offer consent" Scorpius informed his friend.

Kai nodded in understanding before Al punched him in the arm, Scorpius being the only sane one of the group shook his head in disbelief.

* * *

Chocolate was definitely food from the gods, and combined with cake it was even better. Rose was sure that the House elves had recognized her and Mimi as regulars, the small creatures always made sure to have enough food for them and Rose always wolfed it down with an appetite that would put her father to shame.

However with her impending anger the poor and somewhat defenseless chocolate cake was suffering. With such aggression the redhead was stabbing her fork into the desert, crumbs started to fly off in all directions and the house elves had quickly retreated to avoid facing her wrath.

"You sure the cakes had enough, Rosie?" Mimi asked with weak laughter. Rose sighed, she placed her fork down next to the inedible cake and buried her head in her hands.

She was losing it, the memories of the last night and that feeling of getting punched in the gut just kept on recurring. Anger boiled up inside her at the thought of Jodie White with her claws digging into his neck and threading her fingers through his hair.

Rose sighed, her hands tangled in her wild auburn curls. Even though she was having a truce with Scorpius, he still managed to affect her make her feel things and drive her insane. He had a hold over her and it terrified her.

"I'm going insane…" Rose muttered her hands now trapped in her hair.

"We're all insane.." Mimi offered with a small smile before placing a fork full of chocolate cake into her mouth.

"it's how we cope with reality"

There was some sort of intelligence to the Hufflepuffs words however Rose wasn't in the philosophical mood.

"That Jodie White she just…" She paused, glancing at Mimi's confused expression.

"Whats Jodie done...was it at the party?" Mimi asked with curiosity.

Rose sighed, perhaps it would do her good to vent out her frustrations over the bane of her existence.

"Jodie kissed him" She muttered with a scowl, her hand moving to grasp her fork once more. Noticing this, Mimi quickly grabbed the fork and placed out of Rose's reach so hopefully the already damaged chocolate cake wouldn't receive any further mistreatment.

"Jodie…" Mimi asked with confusion "What's she got to do with anything...wait. Who _did_ she kiss?"

"She kissed Scorpius, I'm pissed and now stabbing chocolate cake with a spoon!" Rose exclaimed, unaware of the flinching house elves and the wide grin her friend suddenly possessed.

With speed any quidditch chaser would have been proud of, the smaller girl was suddenly in front of Rose with a wide smile.

"You know what this means?" Mimi asked. This only seemed to further confuse the redhead and in her frustrations tabbed her defenseless cake once again.

"If I knew then I wouldn't be stabbing cake…" Rose muttered, her voice dangerously close to a growl. Her sour mood wasn't getting better, and the fact that her friend just seemed to be smiling like a madman only seemed to make her mood worsen. Whatever Mimi knew or thought she knew for that matter she was exactly sharing and it was starting to really piss Rose off.

"Oh silly Rose, you're like the smartest in our year- maybe even this school and you don't even know what happening under your nose…" Mimi stated with a giggle, her friends giggles only seemed to make the redhead scowl and Rose was mentally counting to ten to prevent herself for doing something which would most likely get her sent to Azkaban.

"And what exactly is happening under my nose?" Rose asked, her voice thick with irritation.

"You and Scorpius" Mimi said in a matter of fact tone, however at the sight of Rose's confused features she released a loud sigh of what one could only describe as annoyance.

"Either you fancy Jodie-" she paused at the scoff Rose released- as if she would like someone like Jodie White. She was a grotesque human being with no care for what anyone else thought.

"Or you like Scorpius" Mimi finished, a wide grin at the sight of Rose's gobsmacked expression. Her jaw went slack and for probably the first time in her life Rose had nothing to say- she was speechless.

Her fork had clattered to the ground, her chocolate cake now reduced to a pathetic mess of crumbs, slowly slid to the floor with a silent thud.

She slowly raised her head and cleared her throat, an expression if feigned indifference on her face.

"I guess that explains a few things…" Rose muttered her gaze trained on the floor and she knew for certain that things were going to get much more difficult.

* * *

 _ **So what did you think of that?**_

 _ **Ooh I need to shout out to all the followers so far:**_

 **KarolRodrigues, lena47, ndaniels13, elizabethmota62, HPotter25, Minicarroll5, Andromeda of cabin 3, labass, Laboulett, loverofbooks20, lovinxoxo and Calzoneeater.**

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 **Thanks peeps.**

 **Stay tuned for the next chapter where we find Rose's coping mechanism, Al is confused and Scorpius discovers a new love for something sweet.**

 **JustAnotherFairy :)**


	7. The art of hiding (more like practice)

**Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Harry Potter apart from a Hufflepuff scarf...but even that belongs to Warner Bros.**

* * *

 **The love sick, the betrayed and the jealous all smell alike**

 **\- Sidonie Gabrielle Colette**

With her realisation replaying over and over on her mind Rose decided some much needed practice was definitely in order. After successfully managing to avoid Scorpius during their shared Ancient Runes class Rose had quickly retreated to the Quidditch pitch. Following the last incident, the bystanders of the stands quickly evacuated, all of them aware of her tendency to send the bludger flying into the stands and inadvertently sending them to the hospital wing. Though James hadn't registered a practice for the day she decided to head down to the pitch to blow off some steam and pretend that the bludger was the bane of her existence.

Out on the pitch everything was simple, you hit or you miss. Real life however was complicated, Rose loudly sighed as she hit the bludger with brute force. Why couldn't life be simple like quidditch; first of all during quidditch there were no crazy emotions, stupidly attractive boys with flawless skin or stupid feelings of jealousy.

Watching the world below her, her problems felt so small, so irrelevant. Up in the air with no worries Rose felt free and that was why she loved Quidditch. The sense of freedom, the sense of control that one just couldn't get down on the ground.

The cold wind whistled around her, her hair in the confines of its ponytail started billowing in the breeze and with her hands firmly placed on her broom Rose allowed herself to relax.

A gust of air blew past her and turning she saw her brother, a small grin on his face as he approached her on his own broom and his own wild red hair being assaulted by the oncoming breeze.

"Thought I would find you here…" He muttered as he started flying circles around her. Rose smiled slightly before lightly punching Hugo in the arm. Her younger brother gave her a goofy smile in response and Rose was instantly reminded of the baby brother she loved to tease.

"It's a nice day out" She muttered with a shrug, however the angry howl of the wind disagreed with her statement.

Her brother cocked a brow, there was no use hiding the truth form him since they were young Hugo had always been able to read her like an open book.

"You always come out here when you're upset" Hugo commented.

Rose cocked a brow in response, though she knew her brother was right she wasn't going to openly admit it.

"Who said I was upset?" She asked with her voice dripping with irritation.

Hugo shook his head with a knowing smirk, which only caused her to scowl.

"What's bothering you Rose?" Hugo asked and Rose had to repress the urge to scoff at his bluntness.

"I had an argument with Suzanne …" She muttered. Hugo's eyes widened at the statement before a small frown crossed his features.

"Suzanne as in your roommate?" He asked with curiosity. She nodded in response, one of her hands had reached back to tuck the stray tendril of hair behind her ear however the wind was having other ideas.

"Now she's not talking to me, Kaylee won't even look at me and um...I never talked to Jodie but now I'm actually considering it" Rose added with weak laughter. Hugo just stared blankly at her, a confused expression in his face and she silently hoped that he wouldn't delve any further into the issue. After all where Rose was book-smart, Hugo was people-smart, sometimes Rose even thought she understood books better than people and that didn't surprise her the slightest.

"At least you have your Hufflepuffs" Hugo said with a smile and she instantly knew that he meant Augusta and Mimi.

"Sometimes I consider moving to that house...no drama and everyone's so nice" Rose stated before Hugo's jaw slacked jaw caught her eyes.

No longer able to keep up her facade she burst out into a chorus of laughter and almost threatened to fall off her broom.

"I'm so glad you weren't serious...imagine losing you to the puffs" Hugo sated with disbelief, and an added shiver racing down his spine to further prove his point.

"They are great people...but just not me" Rose said with a sigh.

Hugo nodded in agreement before a grin formed on his own face.

"We could always get the hat to make another decision" He suggested.

"somehow I believe it's a little late for that don't you think?" Rose commented with a shrug.

Hugo shook his head, the both of them swooping down to the ground and dismounting their brooms.

"Just try and take each day at a time" Hugo said, the two of them heading towards the broom shed.

Rose sighed, placing her own broom in the shed. Things had gotten considerably quiet for Rose, with half if her usual friends not talking to her combined with avoiding Scorpius like the plague things had gotten a bit boring.

She couldn't even see what he saw in Jodie White anyway, she was overly rude however Rose had to admit that the brunette was conventionally attractive. With long brown hair that always looked good in the mornings and slender legs it wasn't that hard to see why.

Of course Rose inherited the Weasley height however with her quidditch practice the usual willowy frame was replaced with a somewhat toned build and Rose felt the least bit lady like when compared with Jodie White.

Rose had what her old tutor called 'piano fingers' which Rose translated simply to 'big man hands' after all she never liked that tutor much anyway and she was glad to see the back of her once she joined Hogwarts. Her fingers were long and slender and she felt out of place among the smaller dainty hands of her peers.

Turning around Rose saw perfect Mimi and perfect Augusta. Instantly her gaze focused on their hands and the redhead was sure that her own hand size was double of Mimi's.

Augusta Longbottom had puberty hit her like the knight bus, she possessed wide hips any woman would crave for, long blonde hair that looked beautiful in her pigtails and bright hazel eyes. Like Rose she possessed height however her shapely figure made her appear more feminine.

Mimi however was a different story, she was the early bloomer who never stopped blooming and Rose had to admit that she may have had a teeny tiny girl crush on her friend. She was all curves in all the right places and most of the male population fancied the brunette.

Rose smiled in a greeting at the two Hufflepuffs; though they were walking reminders of her own body confidence issues she decided to attempt to push the negative thoughts aside since they were her friends after all. They did decide to put up with her moods after all.

As per usual the small brunette had a packet of sweets with her and was eagerly placing them into her mouth.

"How's the situation" Mimi asked, her eyes widening as if to put further emphasis on the events.

Rose shrugged a sigh escaping her lips which didn't go unnoticed by the small brunette. Of course it was all well avoiding Scorpius like the plague and shutting the hangings over her bed to avoid talking and seeing her room mates, however the situation as it were would still forever be present.

"I'm trying to avoid the situation" Rose said with an added weak laugh. Of course both Augusta and Mimi shared identical multiple glances, the blonde worried her bottom lip whilst the brunette gave a slight frown whilst Rose the look of a disappointed mother.

"For the smartest girl here you can be a little…" Mimi paused as if trying to articulate her words carefully whilst Rose glared at her as if daring her to continue.

"Oblivious…" She finished with a grin.

"Oblivious...Mimi I'm being practical he clearly wants to snog the living daylights out of Jodie" Rose snapped.

"Maybe he was drunk?" Augusta suggested almost hopefully. Rose wanted to believe that, she really did however she had read up on the affects of alcohol on the body. The affected person was likely to do or say things they didn't exactly have the courage to whilst sober and that just proved that Scorpius had always wanted to snog Jodie.

Memories of the pair with hands caressing each other and lips locked resurfaced once again leaving Rose with the horrible feeling of being punched in the gut. She tried to ignore him, tried to forget that night altogether and the fact that she now knew why she felt this way only made things worse.

"That's no excuse…" she muttered before abruptly turning to walk away, she ignored the shouts of her friends, the pleas to come back, however she just needed some time alone and she didn't want anyone to see her cry.

* * *

Rose had always hated crying it just made everything messy; vision would get hazy, her nose would run and her cheeks would turn a horrible blotchy colour. Of course in the muggle movies the characters would cry and they would appear as flawless as ever, a few tears would fall down and they would add the occasional sniff to make their performance more convincing. However real life was different. Rose felt as if she had a giant lump in her throat, she had obtained a pounding headache from the strain and she felt exhausted.

After crying away all her tears and feeling somewhat pathetic after the emotional outburst, she wiped away the remainder of her tears, wiped her nose and straightened her robes. She was somewhat glad that the prefect bathrooms existed, for it meant that Myrtle was now occupied and not bothering her. As she prepared to leave the cubicle she heard a small noise which sounded similar to her own previous sobs.

Cautiously the red head walked down to where the sound resided from and not to her surprise the sobbing abruptly stopped almost as if the person didn't want to get caught.

Her curisoty got the better of her and she slowly walked to the exit and slammed the door in an attempt to trick the unkmown sobbing perosn that she had left. Rose stood with her back pressed against the wall and waited, she had nothing better to do and she disliked the idea of returning to the common rooms with a tear stained face news of her crying would spread faster than dragon pox and she didnt want any of her family members wortying about her.

There was a small creaking noise followed by the loud thud of footsteps and then more sniffing. Peering round rose slmost thought she saw Mimi standing in front of the large mirror with tear stained eyes, however when the she turned she saw brown eyes rather than blue, short brown hair rather than long and realised that it was infact her younger sister Saoirse.

Anyone would have felt uncomfortable under Saoirse's gaze- Rose wasn't an exception. Of course being as stubborn as she was, she wasn't going to make her own unease obvious. The two girls were close in height, Saoirse being only a couple of inches taller than Rose however with both of them holding the same position in /quidditch they both held slightly tones builds and broadened shoulders.

By the way the younger girl was staring at her Rose felt as if she interrupted a private moment, the usual stoic girl had wide eyes and she looked vulnerable.

"Maybe I'll just go…" Rose mutted before slowly turning to leave.

"It's just you…?" Saoirse asked, her voice small and hoarse and very different to Mimi's light and musical like voice.

Rose turned back and gave the younger girl a small nod "Yes...just you and I" She answered and Saoirse nodded before turning back to mirror in an attempt to smooth down her hair.

Rose watched the girl with curiosity; she had only one conversation with the girl and that was back in her third year when Mimi had introduced them back on the Hogwarts express. Ever since then she had seen the younger girl keep to herself and was only seen in a large group during the quidditch games. Even then people feared her, like herself the younger girl had a bit of a reputation due to her temper and it wasn't until now that Rose mused that the girl must have been awfully lonely.

She forgot she was even staring at the girl until Saoirse turned to face her with an unreadable expression, the corner of her mouth curved into a ghost of a smile and her deep brown eyes were staring into her own in an almost intense staring match.

"You, Mimi and um.. someone else...you're the only ones" Saoirse muttered with a shake of her head before turning back to the mirror.

Rose cocked a brow in confusion, the younger girl seemed to notice her expression and turned back to face her.

"You don't stare at me like I'm about to snap you like a twig" The brunette stated bluntly.

Rose snorted in amusement however once she noticed the brunette's expression realised that she was indeed serious.

"Is that why you're here?" Rose asked carefully.

The younger girl shrugged before wiping away all evidence of her earlier activities from her face.

"Maybe...or maybe it's because I have the build of a teenage giant" Saoirse added with a bitter smile.

Rose didn't miss the bitterness of the younger girls tone, she knew that some girls at the school were mean and would resort to whispering in dark corners but she had no idea that someone like Saoirse Finnegan would be at the receiving end of such abuse.

"They actually said that?" Rose asked with a frown.

Saoirse shrugged "I wouldn't be here if they didn't and besides let's not talk about me" She stated before a pause and then turned to face Rose with a face void of all emotion "Why are you here?"

Roe suddenly felt uncomfortable under the brunette's gaze, like Mimi she had a way of staring at you as if she knew what you were thinking, however unlike her sister there was no bright smile only a blank face.

"Just trying to forget a certain situation" Rose muttered however to her surprise Saoirse nodded in understanding and then Rose remembered that she was Mimi's younger sister after all.

"Meara told me...and to be honest that Jodie she's a bitch" Saoirse told her with a frown.

Rose released a sound that sounded like a mixture of a snort and a laugh "Glad that we have the same opinion" Rose stated with a small laugh.

Saoirse nodded in agreement "Never have liked her...I've heard what she's said about people- about my sister and to be honest I just want to hex her" She stated before a grin formed on her face, a grin which reminded Rose of the older Finnegan sister "Or punch her in the face" Saoirse added.

Rose groaned in embarrassment, her cheeks turning a bright red colour and to her surprise a light giggle filled the room.

"Thank you for doing that...I'm glad that Meara has people to look out for her" Saoirse added and in that moment Rose saw a different side to Saoirse Finnegan. This side was compassionate for her sister , protective and vulnerable. To be honest the girl in front of her reminded Rose much of herself and she understood just why Mimi had taken a liking to her.

"Any time…" Rose muttered before shifting her bag on her shoulder and preparing to leave.

"Give him a chance" Saoirse called out, a knowing smile on her lips and eyes wide with anticipation an expression she had seen much on Mimi.

Rose cocked a brow and opened her mouth to speak, to protest and state that pursuing was a ridiculous idea.

"He's different" Saoirse added. Rose expected her to elaborate to explain exactly why Scorpius was so different when another smile appeared on the younger girls face almost as if she had seen this 'different' side first hand.

"He's the third person to not look at me like everyone else" She stated a small smile on her face and for a moment Rose felt a pang of jealousy. Did Saoirse like Scorpius too?

"he's like a brother to me" She stated as if she could sense Rose' train of thought, she suddenly felt embarrassed over her jealousy and she blushed once more.

"Talk to him" Saoirse stated before swiftly walking out the bathroom, head held high as if their conversation never even happened. Rose smiled, so what if Jodie had snogged Scorpius there was little use in feeling jealous about it. After all Jodie may have scored but she was going to get the snitch and Rose couldn't just believe she thought that.

* * *

They were sat in the room of requirement both Augusta and Mimi shared confused glances, the vast amount of makeup brushes and makeup in their hands.

"Are you sure about this Rose...I mean we don't have to do this" Augusta pointed out as she slowly fidgeted with the foundation brush in her hands.

Rose nodded, there was no turning back, she needed this plan to work after all.

"Positive" She confirmed not missing the squeal of excitement from Mimi.

It was then that both Augusta and Mimi exchanged identical grins and started on making over Rose.

* * *

She couldn't help it, it was just so exciting and no one could wipe the wide grin from her face. Mimi practically bounced in her seat as she awaited Rose's arrival for dinner, of course the redhead disliked the idea of having a grand entrance however Mimi had convinced her otherwise.

Her sister shook her head with disbelief before turning back to her potatoes, however Mimi noticed the small smile on her face.

She was currently sat in the furthest corner of the table where mostly a close knit group of Slytherins sat, which included her sister, Scorpius and of course Al. However that was only on some occasions for Mimi noted that the Potter-Weasley clan tended to sit together during meal times .

The brunette reached into her pocket and pulled out a packet of fudge, of course this type was once again sent over from India from her grandparents and Meara was certain it contained an ingredient which want yet legal in the United Kingdom.

The dinner did look rather appetizing however memories of the first three years of Hogwarts came back to her and she slowly reached for a lone potato and ignored the grumbles of protest from her stomach.

Her sister watched her from her peripherals, it was normal of Saoirse to watch her like an overprotective parent and despite Mimi being the oldest Saoirse would always remain by her side.

"Does she ever eat real food?" Scorpius asked her sister, Saoirse being Saoirse managed to sneak herself a piece of fudge before turning to face the blond. Mimi blushed slightly, usually no one took any notice of her eating habits despite Saoirse and there was the odd occasion where Rose would watch her with a cocked brow during meal times.

"That and potatoes...my sister is a strange one" Saoirse commented before taking the bag of fudge and offering it to Scorpius.

Mimi pouted somewhat, she was all for sharing however with her sweets she was somewhat protective.

Her eyes remained glued to the great hall's entrance, any moment now Rose was to waltz through and if the plan worked out she would also gain Scorpius' attention.

With a little smile she placed a handful of fudge into her mouth however once her eyes glanced up she was met with a sight that caused her to grin like a madman- or woman.

With auburn curls bouncing being her with each step, Rose Weasley walked into the great hall. Mimi noticed the small blush in her friend's cheeks at the multiple stares she got however Rose proudly powered through by keeping her head held high.

The students either side of her gasped with shock and pointed at the sight of the redhead.

"That can't be Rose Weasley…" Primrose Nott, a small fifth year girl commented with disbelief.

Mimi smiled before glancing towards her sister, Saoirse shared the same look of approval and both girls had to hide their own grins.

Turning to her left she noticed how Scorpius couldn't keep his eyes away from the redhead. Once Rose had joined them at their own table the blond attempted to regain his composure and turned his gaze towards his own plate.

Rose too seemed to notice and gave Mimi a small smirk in disbelief at what was actually happening. Mimi grinned once more, their plan was in action and if things continued to go in this direction she was certain that those two were going to be a couple.

* * *

 ** _So what did you think of that?_**

 ** _Thanks to Esthela89 for following *yay* and i_** ** _f any Hufflepuffs were offended by this chapter please feel free to vent._**

 ** _It was kind of fun to write from a new POV and the Finnegan sister just happen to be my favorite OC's._**

 ** _Stay tuned for the next chapter where Rose attempts to fix things, Al is confused and Rose and Scorpius get some alone time._**

 ** _JustAnotherFairy :)_**


	8. The butterfly effect or the choking type

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. It belongs to J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros.**

 **Never ask a women if you may kiss her.**

 **Instead, learn to read body language.**

 **\- Neil Strauss**

* * *

The makeover was working well-perhaps a little too well.

The male population of Hogwarts (obviously excusing her family members) all started to take an added notice of her as she walked through hallways and sat during meal times. Doors were being held open for her, books being summoned from shelves and she also had various offers of her books being held. To be honest Rose found this quite strange, this odd behaviour from the boys, from some she even considered her friends was starting to become quite irritating.

It was as Rose and Mimi had just left their divination class with Rose feeling more irritated than usual (due to being told more than once by numerous students that she didn't possess an inner eye) that Rose finally had the last straw or as muggles called it 'the straw that broke the camel's back'

Sam Collins, a boy who played on their quidditch team since their second year had always treated her as he would his male peers. However now he seemed to have the sudden urge to hold her books in case they were too heavy which itself was a notion the redhead didn't take lightly to.

"Are you suggesting that I'm too weak to carry my own books?" Rose asked. Her eyes had narrowed, her brows slightly furrowed to form a scowl and her voice had taken a dangerous tone.

Sam shook his head and to Rose's surprise didn't seem to take any notice of her glare for his eyes were glazed over and he seemed to not even be paying attention to a word she was saying.

"Is that a trick question?" He asked with slight confusion.

Rose scoffed before abruptly grabbing her books back from Sam's grasp and hit him over the head with them. It was then that Sam seemed to be shaken from his previous daze as he stared at Rose with a look of confusion with his arms held over the sore spot on the back of his head.

"Bugger off!" She shouted and upon turning away she was met with the sight of Mimi struggling to stifle her own laughter as Sam speedily walked away.

"What are you smiling about?" Rose asked with the irritation clear in her voice. Mimi shrugged before carrying on walking and Rose quickly fell into step beside her friend. The smaller girl practically glided across the floor whilst Rose echoing footsteps fuelled mostly by her frustration were heard from almost a mile away.

"Its working…"Mimi responded in a sing song voice, a few students turned to face the pair in confusion however at the sight of a not-so-happy Rose they quickly turned their attention back to walking in the other direction.

Rose swung her bag over her shoulder, the action sent it whirling round and it hit a poor first year student, the added force sent them to the floor with a small yell. A group of third year girls missed the poor first year boy lying on the ground in pain and tripped over him and the four of them were reduced to a mess of tangled limbs and squeals of protest.

"What's working?" Rose asked and she happened to be seemingly unaware of the chain of events she had caused.

"The makeover" Mimi pointed out whilst fishing out a packet of fudge from her bag, "Fudge?" she asked before placing some into her own mouth.

Rose frowned somewhat, she wasn't opposed to fudge though with her grandparents being retired dentists she knew that too much was definitely a bad thing.

"I'll pass.." She muttered and she wasn't surprised when she heard the words 'more for me' being muttered from her friend's mouth through mouthfuls of fudge.

"Guys…mmm good fudge… they're treating you…mmh… differently now because you look like someone they could potentially date" Mimi stated through mouthfuls of fudge.

Rose frowned before taking a glance at the students as they walked passed, only a week ago they had avoided her by the plague due to her reputation alone and now suddenly they all wanted to date her because she used a few charms to curl her hair and endless bottles of smelly stuff to make her skin smell like strawberries. It all seemed a little surreal, they weren't giving her the time of day until she made a drastic transformation and yet the one person who she wanted to notice wasn't even looking.

She hated caring about what Scorpius thought, what he thought about her. He had always had such an effect on her and made her feel a mixed array of emotions from anger to frustration and even if she didn't want to admit it but those little weird butterflies she got in the pit of her stomach.

"I don't care what they think" She sighed, a hand running through her hair in frustration.

"Rose…don't do that" Mimi cooed as she pulled Rose's hand away from her auburn curls like an overbearing mother. "It took me ages to charm them this morning" She muttered as she started placing the strands of hair in their 'appropriate' place.

Rose frowned before gingerly removing Mimi's hands from her hair, her small friend had always been a bit borderline obsessive of her appearance. Even before the Hufflepuff quidditch matches it was rumoured that she made the team get ready exactly an hour earlier than they needed to, to ensure that they looked their 'best' for the match.

"Rose..this is life. We look good" Mimi stated sadly whilst gesturing to her own appearance "and the guys… they do things for us, because for as long as we look pretty they'll remain interested and once we stop looking pretty they'll just move on" Her friend spoke with such sadness that Rose realised that it was true what the magazines said. Pretty hurts.

Before she looked like this…like how they wanted her to look, no one dared ask her out to the Hogsmeade trips, or as dates to the Halloween parties or even asked her to dance. Yet know everyone was suddenly interested and she didn't like it.

"There are some good ones out there" Rose said with a small smile.

"Trust me…all the guys I've dated have been into one thing" Mimi sighed, however she glanced down to her chest and frowned somewhat "Well two things…and those never lasted long so what makes you think that Scorpius may be different?" Mimi asked.

Rose frowned, there was no way to confirm that Scorpius wasn't going to be like the guys that looked at her like a piece of meat, or the guys that Mimi had dated. However unlike the ones that only started looking Scorpius had stopped looking and that confused Rose. Of course she had been avoiding him but after the makeover he had stopped the snide remarks and with the teasing during potions gone, lessons had been much quieter. When they actually talked during the Halloween party that had been one of the highlights of her evening—she may have been drunk but still it was a conversation she valued and she missed that.

"I'm just going to have to find out" Rose stated with a shrug. Her friend nodded though she didn't seem convinced after all Rose could understand why, Mimi was part of the world ruled by gossipy magazines and beauty articles, a world where you looked your best. Her mother Parvati Finnegan née Patil was the owner of a fashion boutique in diagon alley and there were many times when Rose had seen her own roommates' gushing over the beautiful bridal wear in the issues of Witch Weekly.

Maybe one day she would get her friend to feel pretty…pretty in her own standards.

* * *

With the first of inter house matches rolling around the corner the captains for all the teams had been laying on the training sessions like the professors were with assignments. The Gryffindor team had already booked their session the last Friday, the Ravenclaws the following Sunday and the Hufflepuffs…well they just had their normal amount of practice. The first match of the season was Slytherin against Ravenclaw which meant that their captain Scorpius was trying to figure out each and every game plan possible to ensure that Ruaridh Vodden (Ravenclaw's captain) didn't manage to get another one up against them.

The chasers of the team were already tired out from the endless quaffle throwing, the beaters' arms had been reduced to mush and the keeper was starting to get dizzy. Al was certain that Scorpius was nervous yet his friend was adamant to not admit it most likely due to the team looking up to him like an angry surrogate older brother.

"Can we go in yet?" Kai asked with a stretch of his arms as if to further emphasise his tiredness.

Al almost laughed at the way Scorpius' brow twitched in irritation - well that was until Mathew Goyle's stomach rumbled loudly.

"I heard there's mash on tonight…you think we can go in early?" he asked seemingly unaware of the dangerous look on the platinum blonde's face. Matthew Goyle was a bit of a laugh to be around however tended to think mostly with his stomach. That didn't necessarily mean that he was overweight but the opposite the boy was mostly muscle and burned his food away during exercise that he constantly needed to refuel.

One of the team's beater's and also the only girl on the team, Saoirse Finnegan rolled her eyes and started muttering in a language Al failed to understand. Being the only girl on the team any outsider would have felt sorry for Saoirse however the Slytherin team weren't outsiders and knew to never be around whenever she rolled her eyes. Everyone knew that when it came to the Quidditch games, Saoirse wasn't going to take troll dung from from anyone.

All it took was a swift hit from her bat to Matthew's arm to get him back to reality and the whole team turned to see Scorpius' less than amused expression.

"Thank You Saoirse for being the only mature one on this team" Scorpius hissed which caused a few groans of protest from the fifth year members. Saoirse gave a small nod of appreciation, her bat held firmly in her grasp as if in warning to the other players.

"Show respect when the captain is talking!" Saoirse bellowed, her voice causing a few birds to flee from the forbidden forest and also to reduce the rowdy team to silence.

With the team now back on the ground most have of them had reduced to using their brooms as an aid to hold them up. Scorpius stood in the front of the team, his arms folded over his chest and his broom placed neatly beside him. Of course everyone on the team knew he was about to lecture them on their poor performance however the sun was setting and it was soon to be dinner and the mention of the mash potatoes everyone's stomachs yearned for food.

"You call that a practice?" Scorpius asked. The team knew it was rhetorical for this question had been asked many times—the trick was to stare blankly and make sure their faces remained impassive.

"Well it was pathetic" Scorpius continued as he now started to pace "Zabini, close to your target. Goyle stop thinking about upcoming dinners and Finnegan hit harder" Of course this was the same lecture he gave after every practice, the team knew what to do and how to better themselves yet they stood stoic and impassive waiting for the all clear to change and then head to dinner.

"Our first match is against Ravenclaw and we are not going to lose to them are we?" Scorpius asked, he had finally stopped pacing and his gaze was focusing on each and every player. They stood silent and with a clap of his hands they grasped a hold of their brooms and headed towards the lockers. Practice was finally over.

The boys headed towards their own changing rooms whilst the only girl headed to hers. Though on the way Al felt someone drape their arm over his shoulders and turning around he was met with the grinning face of his friend Kai. For some reason he was wearing the 'cocky smirk' and that scared him for it meant he knew something.

"So we're playing the ravens" Kai stated with a raised brow. Al stared somewhat confused, his friend Kai was always one to send mixed messages some even said that he had a split personality for one minute he was as goofy as they came and the next he was more suave than that muggle secret agent.

"What does that mean other than we're going to beat them?" Al asked before removing Kai's arm from around his shoulders.

Kai opened his mouth to speak, his grin was still present however his eyes widened and he abruptly pulled his school shirt over to cover his bare chest.

"You've got the wrong locker room!" He exclaimed in horror.

Turning around Al noticed Saoirse Finnegan already dressed back in her uniform standing in the doorway to the boys locker room with her arms folded. She glanced boredly across the room, seemingly unaffected by the amount of semi naked boys and her attention was solely on him. He felt somewhat uncomfortable underneath her gaze and slowly placed his shirt over his bare chest just had Kai had done, in an attempt to cover himself up.

"Vodden plans on asking my sister out after winning the game next week" She stated before turning to glare at Kai "Now hurry up and get dressed so we can eat!" She added before leaving.

Al quickly threw on the rest of his clothes before chasing after Saoirse, he had heard rumours of Vodden wanting to ask Meara out to the next Hogsmeade trip however he only thought it a rumour. He knew that he didn't have a claim over Meara as if she were an object but he had at least hoped that there was more time, he wanted to talk to her about Halloween and explain exactly why he pushed her away after the kiss though now it seemed that his time was running out. With Vodden interested he had little chance; Vodden was a seventh year, part of the school orchestra, quidditch captain oh and he was also the school's head boy. The only thing he was missing was a chocolate frog card.

He finally caught up to Saoirse, she was waiting for them by the large stack of barrels which he knew to be the entrance to Hufflepuff's common room where he had escorted Meara back to. He quickly shook his head away of thoughts of the girl of his fancies and turned his attentions back to a very irritated looking beater.

"How long have you known about Vodden?" He asked the fourth year girl.

She simply scowled and he knew that Saoirse was pissed, he almost forgot that she was Meara's younger sister and he suddenly remembered the strength she used to hit the bludgers during their earlier practice.

"You were to slow" She stated, her arms folded over her chest and lips pressed into a firm line.

Al sighed, he was surprised that this girl wasn't friends with his younger sister they were in the same year and both very stubborn after all. She seemed to notice his distress and rolled her eyes before placing her hands on her hips.

"Vodden has been planning this for a while. He plans on winning and asking my sister out" She paused and glanced around as if expecting someone to jump out from the corners of the hallway. "But I've watched him train…he's bigger and stockier than you are, it slows him down"

Al nodded in understanding, Vodden was his own team's Seeker and with his stocky frame performing quick dives and manoeuvres would be slightly difficult, whereas with Als lighter build such moves would come at ease. But what he didn't understand was why Saoirse was giving him advice.

"Are you saying that you're rooting for me to ask her out?" He asked with a somewhat goofy smile. Saoirse didn't seem impressed and her brows suddenly lowered to form a scowl.

"I just dislike you less…"She muttered before turning behind her. The rest of their team mates had arrived with Scorpius leading them and a very enthusiastic Mathew walking behind chanting the words 'mash' like a five year old.

"Just make sure you catch the snitch before Vodden" Saoirse stated before falling into step beside Scorpius. Al quickly followed after the team; of course they all wanted to win, Scorpius to be in a better position to win the quidditch cup, Kai because he made a bet with his younger brother and he needed to win or he would lose Meara to Mr Perfect head boy, quidditch captain, voice of an angel boy.

While they were sat at the team's secluded corner of the table he had a perfect view of where she was sat. He knew it was rude to stare, his mother had taught him that much and if his sister caught wind of him staring at a girl he would never hear the end of it. Meara always managed to be smiling even whilst on her prefect rounds she had her pearly whites on display. From the lighting of the candles her mocha coloured skin gained a golden glow and her chocolate brown curls gained a halo.

He was mesmerised by her movements; the graceful way she cut into her food, the way she chewed and the way she spluttered when losing her air supply…

Al quickly shook his head and was brought back to reality, her housemates were patting her back and asking if she was alright yet she was shaking her head and grasping at her own neck in an attempt to breath. He didn't even know that he had moved or that he was running the length of the great hall until he had reached her. Time seemed to have stopped – well while he was running anyway.

Her face was starting to gain a red hue and the student crowding her weren't seeming to be helping. A few of the teachers had taken to heading over to attend to the choking student however Al had the situation under control.

"I- I asked if she was okay but s-she can't speak" Augusta proclaimed once he had sat down behind Meara. He nodded at the blonde and quickly placed his arms around her waist and locked his hands into a fist just above her navel. Her body was starting to grow limp in his arms from lack of oxygen however Al remained calm and continued with the abdominal thrusts.

The students watched in anticipation and after a few attempts the sound of coughing filled the room and Meara's body jerked in his arms. After a few gasps her breathing had returned to normal and the entire Hufflepuff population had crowded her in hugs.

"Maybe she needs some space not the load of you hogging up her air" Ezekiel Smith commented rather icily. The Hufflepuffs didn't protest yet they slowly made their way back to their seats, most of them keeping an eye on Meara.

Al suddenly realised that he was still indeed sitting with the large group of hufflepuffs and quickly got up to leave.

"Hey Albus" A small musical like voice called out. He turned to find Meara shyly smiling at him and the sight sent warmth to his face. The entire group of Hufflepuffs were staring at him and a few of the other houses too, all eager to get a look in on the latest bit of gossip.

"Umm yeah" He quickly responded, though he mentally slapped himself at how dumb he sounded.

"Thankyou" She said with a smile still evident. He couldn't help but smile back as he walked back to his own table, own the way his brother James and cousin Fred gave him identical thumbs up signs whilst his younger sister grinned at him. However he didn't miss the not-so-subtle glare he got from the Ravenclaw table where Ruaridh Vodden was silently plotting t make sure his team won the upcoming quidditch match.

* * *

"Miss Finnegan I never knew that you were the choking type?" Rose teased once they made back into her dorm room. Luckily for her the rest of her roommates were studying for advanced Herbology together which left the room clear for the next two hours.

Mimi shrugged before placing herself on Kaylee's bed and dramatically spreading her arms out.

"What can I say miss Weasley, I'm full of surprises" She quipped before both girls burst into giggles.

Rose shook her head in disbelief before heading to the vanity to wipe of her makeup, after hours of mascara she was sure that her eyelashes were straining against the added weight. Along with the foundation and various skin creams on her face she felt amazing once they were wiped away.

"I miss one dinner and I miss my baby cousin saving a life…" She muttered with disbelief.

"Well you shouldn't study so much" Mimi suggested before a pause "Isn't Al like a month younger than you?" She asked with a frown.

Though Albus was only younger than her by three weeks, Rose loved to refer to him as the baby cousin despite having cousins even younger than he was.

"Let's not go over the details...I just want to get off this crap and get something to eat" Rose declared with a grin. During her library study session she had lost track of time and unfortunately missed out on the nights dinner however with knowledge of the castles kitchens at her disposal she was sure to get something nice as a late night snack.

"Sadly I have prefect duty with Ezekiel…" Mimi said with a groan, she sat up in her space on the large bed and gave a pout. "Just what I need after a near death experience" She added with a small frown.

"Well I'll eat enough for the both of us" Rose suggested as she stood up, and is if to give confirmation her stomach loudly growled. The kitchens happened to be one of her favourite areas in the entire school- behind the library where she was able to study in peace not only due to the abundance of food but for the house elves working there who were always easy to talk to. Rose had become a regular down in the Hogwarts kitchen, ever since Al had shown her its location she had taken regular trips down there. To be honest that was how her friendship with Mimi started, the two girls had happened across each other by chance eating the leftovers of dessert one evening during their third year and ever since then they had become friends.

Rose was currently sat cross legged in the center of the kitchen floor with various plates scattered around her, most of the house elves had already retired due to the late hour however her favourite elf Spindles remained by her side. The smallest elf had a thin frame, large amber coloured eyes and floppy ears decorated with an array of bows. From Rose's encounters she shared with Mimi down to the kitchens, the hufflepuff girl always made sure to supply Spindles with a new bow to add to her collection and Rose was sure that soon Spindles would become more ribbon than house elf.

"I see Mimi gave you another bow.." Rose pointed out with a smile. Spindles quickly nodded which caused her oversized ears to flop; a large number of hair accessories were attached to Spindles' large sweater there were bobby pins, hair slides and scrunchies attached and the small hous elf sported them all with such pride that Rose didn't have the heart to tell her the 'correct way to wear them.

"It matches my scrunchie" Spindles eagerly pointed out whilst gesturing to the bright orange hair scrunchie which was tied around her wrist like a bracelet. Being one of the younger house elves Spindles was always ever so curious about the visitors into the kitchen, a few of the older ones had taken a dislike to late night visitors due to it being out of their working hours.

The kitchen door slowly creaked open and Spindles mouth slowly formed a wide smile at the sight of the newcomer.

"Mr Scorpius. I haven't seen you round here in a while" Spindles declared grinning widely.

Rose quickly turned to find Scorpius walking in through the doorway, he sauntered over to where she was sat and he seemed to pay little attention to her.

"I know, I've just been eating at regular times" He commented which caused Rose to frown slightly. Was he making fun of her eating habits, surely he wasn't.

"That's a shame..but would you like something to eat?" Spindles asked hopefully.

"Just came with a message for Rose actually" He answered.

Rose shifted I'm her place on the ground to get a good look up at Scorpius. A small frown had crossed her features at him suddenly deciding that he would now talk to her like a normal human being.

She cocked a brow and waited for him to relay his message and he merely smirked in response.

"Meara says to tell you that Ezekiel is a prat" He said with a shrug.

Rose snorted on response; of course Ezekiel Smith was a prat. He was just too opinionated for his own good.

"You didn't come all the way here just to tell me something I already know?" She asked with a small grin.

She swiftly stood up before heading towards the kitchen door, she turned her head to give Spindles a soft smile "See you tomorrow, Spindles" She said, and the small house elf gave her an enthusiastic wave.

The hallway was quiet, students had now gone to bed and not even the prefects were out during such an hour. Though she liked to think that she knew the castle like the back of her hand, during the night was a different story entirely. Before even daring to take another step Rose reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out her wand and with a simple lumos her pathway was clear.

Satisfied she carried on walking, half of her wondering if Scorpius had already retreated back to his own common room. She wasn't exactly afraid of the darkness, just not exactly fond of it. Her pathways were unclear, it was harder to see and generally darkness just made her somewhat uncomfortable.

"Since you already sussed me out, I just wanted an excuse to talk to you" Scorpius stated. The sound of his voice startled her causing her to stagger backwards and her heart threatened to leap out of her chest.

Once she had calmed down her racing heartbeat she punched the blond in her arm for he seemed a bit too smug about being able to surprise her. Her cheeks flushed from embarrassment and from the light of her wand his own smirk was clear. He seemed to notice her flustered state which only caused his smirk to worsen and with a scowl Rose attempted to hit him once more. With the speed any quidditch player would have been proud of he had caught her fist in mid air and gestured a few fair metres away from them where brown coloured cat stalked the hallways.

She nodded in understanding and suddenly realised that Scorpius hands were still wrapped around her wrist as he pulled her down a different hallway. She wasn't going to protest about his hold, it wasn't unpleasant it was just that the butterflies that resided in the pit of her stomach whenever Scorpius was around decided to make themselves known.

Even once he had released her hand the butterflies still remained and Rose found herself placing her fingers over the space his own fingers had touched. She quickly fell into step beside him and willed her brain to stop acting like the schoolgirl she was and turned her focus back to Scorpius.

"Talk...we've could have talked during class" Rose pointed out with a frown. The fact was true, though they weren't potions partners they always managed their 'interactions' during the beginning of the year and they had stopped potions had become quite boring. She actually completed a potion without once having to shout an insult across the room and she didn't want to admit that she actually missed it.

"We could have done…" He muttered, his face remaining impassive while they walked.

They walked the rest of the way in relative silence, the conversations drifting from the general yet dull topics. She couldn't help but feel that he was acting strange around her, almost as if he were nervous yet his features remained an impassive and unreadable mask which only left her even more confused.

"Have you been avoiding me?" Rose abruptly asked. She was aware of how he double blinked- he hadn't been expecting that question and she had caught him off guard. Perhaps now she would be able to get some answers.

"Have you missed my company?" He countered, his lips quirked slightly at the sight of her confused and flustered state.

"Answering a question with a question...how Slytherin of you" She commented with dry laughter. She knew he was avoiding the subject but she just wanted a straight yes or no answer and she didn't think that too difficult a demand.

"You're scowling" He commented with a hint of amusement. Rose quirked a brow, her hands had retreated to her hips and she was the embodiment of irritation.

"You're infuriating" She quipped before walking ahead, she had barely taken two steps forward when she felt his fingers grab onto her elbow and pull her back towards him. She almost lost her grip on her wand by the way he was looking at her, his eyes had drifted to a molten silver hue and his brows were slightly furrowed.

"You're very easy to rouse…" He muttered, his eyes locked onto hers. She was very aware of the space or lack of between them, somewhere along the line he had pulled her closer to him and she found herself not wanting to pull away.

She felt herself blushing once more, the butterflies were rowdier than ever and she found herself waiting for something...anything to happen.

"Maybe you just have an affect on me" She answered, though she was somewhat surprised at how breathy her own voice sounded.

"I think I know what you mean…" He muttered and before she could retort or raise a brow the distance had been closed and his lips were pressed against butterflies were attempting to take off, her hands had curled into his robes and his own had drifted to her waist. She didn't know how a person could have this much of an affect on her but she found herself craving him. She had always thought that they were polar opposites, compatible yet at this moment they were moving so in sync, as one and she found it almost comical that she thought such a thing was impossible.

The need to breath came apparent and the pair slowly and regretfully pulled away from each other. In the dim light she was aware of how swollen his lips looked, his robes were out of sorts and his alabaster skin look flushed. She assumed she looked the same way due to the way he was smirking at her like a child at christmas and she once again felt those irritating butterflies return. The sound of loud coughing brought them from their trance and Rose was suddenly aware that they weren't exactly alone.

"No, no...carry on. Best show I've had in years" The fat lady commented rather dreamily. The inhabitants of the other painting murmured in agreement and Rose found herself blushing once more. Not only had she kissed Scorpius Malfoy but he was an exceptionally good kisser too.

She turned to him with a shy smile, she wasn't used to this sort of thing boys didn't exactly snog her down hallways and then escort her back to her common room. This was the sort of thing Mimi would do not Rose. She was all quidditch, books and studying the simple things of life.

"See you tomorrow" she said. She knew she was going to see him after all they did have one of their two shared classes.

He nodded before placing a chaste kiss against her cheek, she assumed it was something he was used to doing after all Scorpius

had been on dates before- not like she was watching she was just friends with people who kept up with the school gossip. She willed herself not to blush yet her body betrayed her and sent a wave of warmth to her face and left her feeling like a human tomato.

"Tomorrow" He confirmed before leaving.

Once she was certain she was alone she released a squeal and was quick to race up to her own dormitaires. If she had a diary she would have written inside it, however since she didn't she settles on replaying the events over and over again in her mind and falling asleep with a wide grin.

* * *

 _ **So what did you think of that?**_

 _ **I made them do the thing and I don't regret it.**_

 _ **Stay tuned for the next chapter where things get awkward for Rose and Scorpius, Al attempts to win the quidditch game and Mimi attempts to make Rose get some inter house spirit.**_

 _ **JustAnotherFairy :)**_


	9. Return of the butterflies

**Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Harry Potter except the OC's**

* * *

The past week had brought along stolen glances, quick smiles and harmless flirting between herself and Scorpius. It seemed that no one had actually noticed for they were so engrossed in the difficult assignments and the upcoming match.

The combination of tiring defence against the dark arts essays, ancient runes assignments and quidditch training had Rose gladly accepting a relaxing Saturday morning of the Ravenclaw Vs Slytherin match. Being the first match of the season meant that most of the first years were eager to show their house pride.

Being a weekend meant that the students were allowed to wear their own clothes, however most of the Slytherins and Ravenclaw's were adorned in their house colours. Even a few of the slightly older students showed their support for Rose spotted the Scamander twins, Lorcan and Lysander helping to charm the large eagles of their house banner.

As she walked down the length of the great hall she was barely able to dodge the pair of Slytherin second years as they raced out the large double doors with a large emerald green banner trailing behind them. She frowned in response before heading to find a space to sit, with the impending match most of the large tables were dominated by large banners and posters.

Glancing down to the Gryffindor table she spotted her roomates (well the ones she actually tolerated) animatedly chatting about something or the other. Rose hadn't been on speaking terms with Suzanne for over two weeks and due to her close friendship with Kaylee, she too had stopped speaking. Rose knew she was stubborn and so was Suzanne however Rose decided to swallow her pride since she was the one to start the argument after all.

Taking a deep breath she walked over to the pair, she didn't have to wait too long before Kaylee had spotted her a small smile on her face and was glancing between the two girls as if worried about a possible confrontation.

"You mind if I join you?" Rose asked with a small yet hopeful smile.

Kaylee glanced to Suzanne who stared Rose down for a moment before nodding.

"It is a free country" Suzanne muttered. She carefully sat down next to Kaylee, being the slightly laid back of the Gryffindor girls she would be able to talk things down if they got out of hand.

"Its pretty quiet in our room" Rose pointed out after the short silence. Kaylee nodded in agreement, she turned to Suzanne who seemed to be contemplating the statement before she too nodded.

"Pretty boring too, especially since you aren't there to smash Jodie's face in" Suzanne added with a small laugh.

Rose snorted in response, of course Suzanne would bring up the fight with Jodie after all they all had a mutual dislike of her. She sighed before taking a sip of her pumpkin juice, she was never good at apologies they weren't exactly her thing.

"Perhaps I was a little harsh snapping at you like that" Rose stated as she gently swirled around her goblet.

Suzanne hummed in thought "I've missed talking with you too. Even if you are an insufferable git" She added with a grin.

Rose shook her head with disbelief whilst Kaylee grinned at both girls in turn "Isn't this nice, the three of us talking again like normal human beings" She said with a wide smile.

"I would hardly call you lot normal…" Suzanne quipped before Kaylee tossed a piece of toast at her in response.

Rose smiled, at least one aspect of her life was back on track all she needed to do now was talk to Scorpius about the kiss and talk like adults about the situation. The girls soon started talking about the upcoming match, with it being the first of season it brought a lot of excitement to the spectating students. Rose however was half listening for her thoughts were placed on a particular Slytherin team captain.

She quickly noticed Saoirse Finnegan adorned in her quidditch robes and a frown on her face while Mimi trailed behind her holding what appeared to be a neon green banner with the words 'GO SLYTHERIN' printed across with block capitals. Of course in typical Mimi fashion, sparkling forest green glitter filled the banner and the 'I' of 'Slytherin' was dotted with a large heart.

"That's the wrong shade of green…" Saoirse pointed out a look of distaste clear as she stared at the banner.

Mimi frowned before holding it up to the sunlight with a slight frown "It's still green" She tried however Saoirse's frown wasn't disappearing.

"But the wrong shade" Saoirse spat as she poked at the banner, large clumps of glitter fell to the floor and the large snake decorating the majority of the banner hissed in protest.

"How else will you be able to see it?" Mimi asked with childlike innocence. It was almost hard to believe that she was the older of the Finnegan sisters with her innocence and optimistic personality.

"Just fix it" Saoirse hissed before abruptly turning away. Rose watched with sympathy as Mimi sat down with a loud sigh and both Suzanne and Kaylee watched with worried expressions.

"Wonder what got her knickers in a twist" Suzanne muttered before Kaylee sent her a glare.

Mimi smiled slightly before poking at the bright neon green banner with her wand, it was much of an eyesore in Rose's opinion however it was likely to stand out against the emerald green of the rest of the slytherin banners.

"She was probably just nervous" Rose tried to reason, she knew how it felt to play a quidditch match and especially being the first of the season meant that both teams had to play their best in order to stand a good chance at winning the cup at the end of the season.

Mimi nodded in understanding though Rose could tell that her friend was still upset over her sister's behaviour. From what she heard the Finnegan sisters were close and rarely argued, both looked out for each other and it was obvious that they were very protective over the other almost more protective than the Weasley-Potter clan were over each other.

"Well that's more of the reason to make this the best banner ever!" Mimi exclaimed and with a few flicks of her wand the large snake on her banner was angrily hissing, a few students had turned at the sound though most of them shrugged it off at the sight of the over enthusiastic Huffelpuff.

"Shouldn't you be supporting Ravenclaw?" Kaylee asked with a smirk. Rose turned her hufflepuff friend with a raised brow, there was obviously something which she hadn't been sharing with the other girls.

"Nope," Mimi responded with a pop of the 'p' "I always support Saoirse's games" She added with a bright smile. The snake hissed in agreement and the girls took it as their cue to head down to the stands to get a good seat. There weren't going to be many Gryffindor's going to the match since their team were playing however their group always had a specific spot in the stands where they stood whenever their team wasn't playing.

"You guys want to help me with the banner?" Mimi asked with a hopefull smile. The three Gryffindor's exchanged looks of unease for they would usually not want to be caught even holding the banner of their house's sworn enemy however with the large puppy eyes of Meara Finnegan they were quickly convinced otherwise.

* * *

She was sure that she was going deaf, the combination of Mimi screaming like a banshee every time her sister hit the bludger and Kaylee swooning over the Ravenclaw team's chaser, Sam Worthington. The snake banner hissed with each goal of the slytherin team and most of the spectators of the Gryffindor stands had started to grow accustom to it.

"Look, look its Scorpius with the quaffle!" Mimi screamed as she waved her arms about in the air. The 'GO SLYTHERIN' banner fell from her grasp and she quickly grabbed it before it could fall to the ground or get lost to the howling wind.

The game was leaning towards Ravenclaw's favour and Rose was worried that if Al didn't catch the snitch and end the game soon there would be no chance of the Sytherins to win the game. Ruaridh Vodden, the Ravenlaw seeker was already on high alert, his hands grasped firmly to his broom and eyes darting the pitch in sight of the snitch. He seemed confident of his abilities and was able to evade each swing of the bludger with grace and confidence.

"Oh and there's beater Finnegan…she's rather nice when she's not frowning" Lysander Scamader commented. As the commentator of the matches he often had an interesting view however he had the tendency to go a little off subject

"I don't really like referring to last names but my friend Lily said its because the other students wont know who I'm talking about" He added almost dreamily.

Rose smiled, her eyes following the Slytherin chasers; Zabini was good able to evade the bludger with quick manoeuvres, Scorpius was quick and combined with the other two chasers was able to pass the quaffle between them with ease.

"—oh Saoirse ..,or beater Finnegan just hit the bludger towards chaser Verducci and she fell from her broom…I think she'll be fine but- oh chaser Malfoy just scored…he's pretty quick, for even I almost missed that" Lysander stated almost as if quickly coming out from a trance.

The snake loudly hissed and a few of the Gryffindoor's groaned in annoyance, among them was Jodie White.

"Why are you even here with that _thing_ anyway?" Jodie sneered. She stared at their group as if they were no more than gum at the bottom of her shoe and Rose honestly detested her.

Kaylee instantly jumped to Mimi' defence with Suzanne by her side whilst the both of them glared daggers at Jodie.

"We're just watching the game, no trouble here" Kaylee stated in an attempted to diffuse the tension.

Jodie merely scoffed and Rose found herself scowling. Jodie was obviously after a fight, she had always been one to stir things amongst the roommates and had even gone as far to spread nasty rumours about them and their friends to the other Gryffindors.

"Well you shouldn't have that thing here…are you trying to restart the rivalry between houses?" She asked with a glare towards the Hufflepuff.

"W-what no…I'm just trying to show some support" Mimi muttered, clearly been taken aback by Jodie's statement. Jodie scoffed once more and Rose just couldn't understand why the taller girl had such a dislike to their group- particularly Mimi.

"To the wrong house…I still can't believe that your sister is one of _them_ " Jodie sneered which caused Mimi's eyes to widen.

"Jodie you know fully well that there's no house rivalry" Kaylee stated with a firm nod. There was some house rivalry, nothing too harmless just the odd snide comment about winning the house cup at the end of the year, however there were the odd few students who obviously harboured darker feelings towards the Slytherin students. Though the teachers tried to diminish such feelings. She knew how hard it had been on Al when he had first joined Slytherin and even for Mimi's youngers sister.

"Right now you're acting childish" Rose stated with a scowl directed straight at Jodie. The taller girl matched Rose's own scowl and it had now turned into a full n glaring match between the two Gryffindor's.

"Can we just watch the game…" Mimi muttered as she grasped hold of her banner tightly, the snake hissed loudly once more signifying that the Slytherin team had once again scored however with the argument continuing to brew no one paid any attention to it.

"How dare you?!" Jodie spat before taking a step towards Rose, the redhead happily complied despite the protests of her friends and both girls quickly had their wands out for neither of them wanted a repeat of their slap fight back in the dorms.

Rose and Jodie's argument had quickly caught the attention of the surrounding students, most had turned to catch the upcoming duel whilst others had attempted to vacate.

"We do kind of have to share a room with her.." Kaylee pointed out, however this fell on deaf ears as both Gryffindor's had their wands pointed at each other.

"As a prefect I can kind of give you a detention-" Mimi stated however both girls ignored her.

"But we'll lose house points" Suzanne commented which caused Mimi to hum in thought- she didn't want to disadvantage her friends after all.

"Yes Jodie let's start a duel with all the bystanders!" Rose hissed, her wand was fully trained on the taller girl and her face had contorted to a scowl.

Jodie didn't lower her wand and her own face mirrored Rose's own anger. It was clear that neither girl was going to back down without a fight.

"We should stop before someone sees" Kaylee said with a gesture towards the small cluster of teachers who remained oblivious to the oncoming duel a few metres away from them.

Rose stared down at Jodie, the taller girl was first to lower her wand- albeit reluctantly and Rose followed suit. The girls both continued to stare at each other almost daring the other to make a move. Kaylee and Suzanne visibly relaxed however Mimi remained unconvinced that the girls' brawl had finished.

"Now" Kaylee stated with a clap of her hands "Since that's over let's watch the game like mature-"

Kaylee was abruptly cut off when Jodie had pulled out her wand and Rose was left unprepared for the hex Jodie was to send at her. There was a brief flash of blue sparks and before Rose knew it Jodie had staggered back whilst holding at her nose which by the second was quickly turning grey and elongating to replicate an elephants trunk. Glancing behind her she noticed Mimi wearing a slight frown with her wand tightly in her grasp.

The taller girl let out a nasally squeal before barging through the crowds whilst muttering a string of curse words. Rose resisted the urge to laugh however from the glare she was receiving from Kaylee she quickly covered her laughter with a cough.

"Mimi…you're a prefect…and you just hexed Jodie" Kaylee stated before the snake loudly hissed. Mimi shrugged before sheepishly fidgeting with the neon green banner, at that moment Rose felt utter gratitude towards her friend.

"She was bad mouthing the Slytherins," Mimi stated before turning to Rose "And I couldn't let her say that stuff to you…not after last time when you-"

Rose smiled before hugging her friend, everyone who knew Mimi well knew that it wasn't wise to make fun of the slytherin students around her and it seemed that she was just as protective over her friends as she was her sister.

"It's water under the bridge and besides that was a nice hex"

Mimi blushed slightly before a small smile over took her features "Just a little something I've been practicing with Augie" She muttered before tucking her wand away.

"Oh and there's Al—oh I mean Potter with the snitch which means that Slytherin wins!" Lysander exclaimed though Rose could detect the hint of sadness at his own teams' loss.

Rose was rather annoyed that she missed the best part of the match thanks to her little spat with Jodie, however she was still glad that the Slytherins came out on top. Mimi had quickly enveloped her in a tight hug and glancing down to the pitch she saw the Slytherins congratulate each other with claps to the back. The majority of the team had lost their expressionless masks and wide grins sported their faces as they reveled in their victory.

Rose was very aware of the small smile that Scorpius had plastered on his face as her cousin Al and their team mate Saoirse cheered loudly beside him.

A blush caught her once Scorpius caught her eye and it was clear to the both of them that she had been staring. He flashed her a small grin and she once again found those rather annoying butterflies returning.

* * *

The win had come to a surprise to the most of them, of course Scorpius had chastised him for his lack of belief in their team though he could tell that his friend was joking. He had dressed back into his school robes rather quickly and it was clear that his team mates were getting suspicious of where he was in such a hurry to get to.

Walking out of the boys changing rooms he spotted Meara not too far away whilst talking to her younger sister Saoirse. The girls seemed to be animatedly talking and he even spotted the beater to smile. He started to head towards them, hoping to talk to them when he noticed the Ravenlcaw captain, Vodden swagger past already dressed back in his own robes.

With liquid grace the older boy had taken a hold of one of Meara's hands and had ushered her away from her sister whilst the younger girl stared on with obvious distaste.

"I wanted to tell you…" Saoirse stated before glancing back to the couple. Al nodded sadly, he watched as Vodden draped an arm over Meara's shoulders and whispered something into her ear which caused her to lightly giggle.

"He asked her to Hogmeade weekend after the hufflepuff's practice" She added, though Al was only half listening as he watched the couple slink away and he didn't miss the smug smirk Vodden gave him once they turned a corner.

He nodded in understating, of course Meara was free to date whoever she wanted it wasn't like they were dating and they had only shared one drunken kiss after all. However that still couldn't chase away the feeling of jealousy at the way Vodden had wrapped his arms around her and the way Meara had smiled up at him.

"I'm going to keep an eye on them," Saoirse stated before abruptly walking away "He's planning on taking her to that awful tea shop" She added with a small grimace.

Al frowned wondering what the younger girl was trying to insinuate before an identical smirk had formed on his own features.

"You're not suggesting that we spy on them now Saoirse?" He asked with mock surprise. He was well aware of how protective the sisters were of each other so it wouldn't be of a surprise that she wanted to keep an eye on the couple.

"I just want to ensure that Vodden keeps those hands to himself" She stated with an added shrug "And maybe add in a little hex or too if he gets too touchy feely" She added with a smirk.

Al smiled before falling into step beside the younger girl and the pair of them headed towards the great hall.

"You are one definitely speaking my language" Al stated with a small grin though he still felt kind of down about Meara dating that Vodden.

* * *

The cold November air bit against her face and Rose had practically buried her face in her large house scarf to keep out the cold. It was too cold to be outside however the girls had convinced her to have a bit of relaxation from the large amount of assignments she had to do. They were currently walking around the lake when Kaylee suddenly gasped whilst pointing a few yards away from them.

"I bloody well knew it, she wouldn't tell me…but I knew it!" She exclaimed with her hand still outstretched. Both Rose and Suzanne followed Kaylee's line of vision with slight confusion, and Rose's own eyes widened at the sight of the Ravenclaw seeker with his arm hooked securely around Mimi's waist the two of them looking rather cosy together.

"So they're dating now?" Suzanne asked with a frown "He is rather good looking" She added almost as an after thought. Rose scoffed, though she knew that Vodden was rather sought after by the female population of the school he was rather arrogant and a little too perfect for her tastes.

"So that's where she went sneaking off to.." Rose muttered as she watched Mimi offer Vodden some fudge. Rose merely shook her head in disbelief when the head boy shook his head before Mimi popped a piece into her own mouth.

She glanced over in the opposite direction and spotted the majority of the Slytherin team walking passed, amongst them her cousin, Saoirse Finnegan and Scorpius. She smirked once she noticed the Slytherins loudly chant once they noticed Vodden however she didn't miss the look of sadness on her cousin's face. After all he had fancied Mimi for quite some time.

The team walked passed her own group, Scorpius giving her a small smile that sent a wave of warmth to her cheeks which she quickly tried to hide in her scarf. He turned back to his team and signalled for them to go on, a few of them exchanged glances before carrying on and he instanlt turned back to face her. This was it, they were going to talk it out.

She wasn't aware she had stopped walking until Kaylee and Suzanne had turned back to face her with confused glances.

"You coming?" Kaylee asked, her gaze flickering between Rose and Scorpius as if trying to put two and two together however from the look on her face she was just as confused as Suzanne.

"I'll catch you guys later in the common room" Rose promised. Kaylee nodded and walked off with Suzanne and Rose had to resist the urge to roll her eyes at the smirk the girls gave her.

She fell into step beside Scorpius, the pair of them walking about the lake in a comfortable silence. Rose was very aware of the close proximity between them, with every step their arms brushed and it caused the butterflies in her stomach to make an appearance once more.

"Well done…with the um… game" Rose said with a shy smile, she mentally cursed herself at how shy she sounded and willed her mind to get her act together around this boy.

"Thanks, though that wasn't why I wanted to talk with you" He answered with a hint of a small smirk.

The smirk was enough to relax her, though she had an inkling of what he wanted to talk about.

"Then talk," She said with a smile "Lets get this over with"

He smirked once more at her blunt statement before turning to face her, she gave him a soft smile as if reassuring him to continue and inhaled sharply.

"There's something…something between us" He stated.

She nodded in agreement whilst biting her bottom lip, there was no denying the…the something that there was between the two of them.

"We should take it slow. Figure things out" Rose added with a nod. Scorpius nodded in agreement as if he had the same thoughts in his own mind.

"So what is it between us then?" Scorpius asked with a raised brow.

Rose shrugged, it was too early to put a label on this relationship yet it seemed that they both wanted to know where they stood with each other. She hummed in thought before the perfect term came to mind.

"A something…we're a something" She said with a grin. Scorpius stared blankly at her before a grin overtook his features, he shook his head in disbelief before turning back to face her.

"That's good enough for now," He confirmed, the remnants of his amusement clear on his face "Perhaps we can take our something to Hogmseade?"

Her eyes widened briefly before she cocked a brow "Was that you asking me out on a date?" She asked with a grin.

"I don't know, am I?" He quipped with his own brow raised. Rose frowned before lightly slapping him on the arm, though he didn't seem to take any notice.

"So it's a date" Rose asked with a smile and it only widened when Scorpius nodded.

"A date" He confirmed.

* * *

 _ **So what did you think of that?**_

 _ **I'm not the best at writing quidditch matches and all that so hopefully that wasn't too much of an eye sore.**_

 _ **Stay tuned for the next chapter where Rose and Scorpius have their secret date, Al and Saoirse go spying and the snow starts to fall.**_

 _ **JustAnotherFairy :)**_


	10. The art of hiding (from cousins)

The following weekend brought around the latest of the Hogsmeade trips, all the students from third year and up had been excitedly preparing on the shops they wanted to visit and the sights they wanted to see in the wizarding village. However for Rose the visit brought about a bout of excitement for an entirely different reason. She was nervous about her date with her…um..something Scorpius and was currently not-so-patiently waiting for him to appear by the bridge. Trying to remain inconspicuous was easier said than done for her room mates were very insistent to find out why she wasn't visiting the village with them. Eventually she decided on telling a little white lie about studying…which was half true since she did actually study that morning.

It had snowed relatively early this year, and the castle grounds was as pretty as a Christmas card. Though the multiple footprints leading to and from the castle ruined the snowy landscape, Rose still admired it all the same. The scarf wrapped tightly around her neck billowed slightly in the wind and she found herself abruptly thrust into a battle to keep it from hitting her in the face. She scowled in frustration when it once again whacked her in face.

"Having fun are we?" Scorpius' voice asked witlight amusement. She jumped slightly in surprise before lightly slapping him in the arm- she always hated it when people snuck up on her, especially when they were Scorpius.

He merely smirked in amusement, something which always brought those butterflies back as well as frustrate her all the same. A few students had started to head out of the school and Rose quickly pulled the pair of them aside to avoid getting caught. Once she was sure they were out of sight she turned back to face him with her scowl returned.

"What took you so long?" She asked. He simply held up his hands in mock defence which caused her to roll her eyes, of course he wasn't going to be serious in this situation it wasn't like she had freezing in the cold whilst waiting for him.

"I had to lose Al and the others," He stated "Had to come up with an excuse" He added before he started walking. She quickly fell into step beside him, the pathway out of the school was clear due to most of the students having already left and there were only a few fourth years still loitering around.

"What did you tell them?" She asked with curiosity, she knew how nosy her family members were so naturally she was curious as to what excuse Scorpius came up with to throw Al off their trail.

"That I was going to the library" He answered with a shrug. She smiled in response for it seemed that they were more alike than she initially thought.

They fell into a comfortable silence after that, the pair of walking arm in arm on the way down to Hogsmeade.

* * *

It had just gone a little passed one and Al and Saoirse had been following around Meara and Vodden for the past twenty minutes. He had to hand it to the Ravenclaw seeker, he definitely knew how to charm a woman however he was just a little too suave. Every so often he would throw his arm around her waist or lean in a little too closely and Al more than once found himself about to physically vomit.

He knew that they perhaps shouldn't have been doing this, after all Vodden was the smart one who had the courage to ask Meara out before he did- he was just too slow and was paying the price for it. But what disheartened him the most was the way that Meara was smiling, she seemed to actually be having a good time with the Ravenclaw seeker and Al felt somewhat selfish for wanting to ruin it. He knew that he should be happy for her own happiness, though he wanted her to be happy with _him_.

"Didn't think that we would catch you two here…" A familiar dreamy like voice commented from next to him. Al double blinked and turned his attention from the couple and towards Lysander Scamander. Saoirse seemed somewhat startled at their sudden appearance for the brunette jumped slightly before directing a glare at each twin in turn, however it seemed that both Scamander's seemed unfazed by her glaring.

"I think they're spying 'Sander.." Lorcan commented from beside his twin. Lysander cocked his head to the side as if examining the two slytherins, his brows were slightly furrowed and yet his pale blue eyes shone with curiosity.

"We're just making sure that Vodden does nothing funny with my sister" Saoirse scoffed before folding her arms. Lysander hummed somewhat as he cocked his head to the side once more though Al didn't miss the way Saoirse curiously watched the blond.

"He doesn't strike me as someone funny" Lysnader added before quickly turning his attention elsewhere. A small brown speckled moth had flew past, and the blond avidly followed its flight pattern as it fluttered through the chilly winter air.

"Maybe he's taking lessons from James," Lorcan suggested to which his twin abruptly stopped watching the moth to nod in agreement. However once he turned back a small frown crossed his features, for the moth was now gone.

"He wouldn't know what humour was even if it slapped him in the face" Al muttered, though even he could detect the bitterness of his tone.

"So he's on a date with Meara" Lysander stated, his gaze absently flickering between the couple and back to Al. It was almost as if Al could visibly see the gears turning in the younger boy's head, after all out of the twins he had always been the more... _observant_.

"And the smarmy git has had his hands on her the entire time" Saoirse added with grimace. Lorcan chuckled slightly though Lysander's gaze was fixed on Al, his curious expression never fading.

"He'll treat her with respect," Lysander stated with a wistful smile "Though it must be hard to see her with him like that" He added his gaze momentarily flicking back to Al.

Saoirse shrugged "Kind of…but he's still a smarmy git" She stated almost as if it were obvious. Saoirse was almost a bot too protective over her sister Meara, despite her being older by two years. It was rumored that before all of Meara's dates, Saoirse had given the boys a little 'talk' which usually resulted in them never wanting to take the Hufflepuff out again.

Al couldn't help but laugh slightly, though once his gaze turned back to Meara he was once again saddened by the wide smile on her face as Vodden wrapped his house scarf round her neck. Lysander was right, Vodden wasn't a bad person for he had morals and would treat Meara with upmost respect.

Lysander fell into step beside Saoirse, the brunette's cheeks darkened and Al mused that it wasn't solely due to the winter air. He sent a smirk over to the younger girl and she ducked her head in response to avoid catching his eye.

"Do you think she has a cold?" Lorcan asked from his space beside him. Since his twin was already preoccupied with Saoirse Lorcan had decided on walking with Al.

Al shrugged with a slight smirk, from their space behind the couple they could see Lysander animatedly talking with the Slytherin. She wore a small smile on her face, something he only saw when she was in her older sister's company.

"I doubt that…" He muttered though Lorcan only hummed in thought and fixed his gaze on his younger brother.

The pair glanced up, Al frowning once he noticed Saoirse and Lysander had come to a stop.

"What do you think they're staring at?" Lorcan asked with curiosity.

Al shrugged, only half interested in what was going on however once he noticed the scowl on Saoirse's face he realised that it was something he wasn't going to like. Glancing past the younger girl he saw a couple standing together in the empty streets of Hogsmeade and he felt a punch to the gut once he realised who they were.

Vodden was standing barely inches away from Meara, his hand was laced in her chocolate brown waves and the way he was slowly leaning in made it very clear what he intended to do.

"Quite a romantic setting…" Lysander mused absently. Saoirse scoffed in response and turned to leave...well that was what Al thought she was doing.

He suddenly felt something cold and wet being placed into his open palm and he turned down in confusion to see a perfectly formed snowball. He turned back to see Saoirse smirking as she gestured to the couple in front of them. It seemed rather tempting though he knew that he shouldn't intrude.

"You know you want to..." She said with a grin akin to the Cheshire cat.

Al sighed, he glanced to the couple where Vodden had pulled Meara impossibly close to him and he knew that if something wasn't done they were going to kiss...the moment was just too perfect.

Before he could even stop himself the snowball had left the comfort of his hand and was flying through the air.

The loud THWACK that echoed through the empty street signalled that the snowball met its target. The added force had sent Vodden staggering backwards and to Al's relief, away from Meara.

Saoirse was cackling like a madman; Lorcan was attempting to stifle his own laughter whilst Lysander was watching the rest of them with a light amusement.

He was glued to the spot half shocked, yet half amused at what he had just done and yet he was kind of glad. Saoirse was tugging at his arm, a wide grin spread across her face as they started escaping the scene of the crime.

"I-I can't believe you just did that...classic!" She exclaimed before wiping a tear of amusement from her eye. He gave a small smile though he spared a glance back towards Meara as she attempted to pull a frazzled Vodden from the floor however due to the snowy ground he slipped and fell.

He felt somewhat bad for ruining their date, however he would happily ruin all of their kisses.

* * *

Most of the sixth and seventh years had taken to populating the three broomsticks that Saturday. Due to it being a busy day and for them wanting to keep their date a secret, Rose and Scorpius had taken a booth in the furthest corner of the pub.

One hand was tightly grasped to her butterbeer whilst other was entwined with Scorpius' larger one whilst smirking at her very obvious blush. So far their date had gone relatively well; they had strolled around the village, taking time enjoying each other's company (which mostly involved teasing each other), buying the entire stock of honeydukes and then avoiding their friends and her family members.

"Been a long day…" She muttered with a small smile. He nodded in agreement before taking a sip of his beer, his thumb running small circles in the back of her hand.

"Has been...mostly avoiding Weasley's" He added with a grin.

She resisted the urge to eye roll and instead settled on swatting him with her free hand.

"Be nice...they're just looking out for me" She stated, though she left out the part where she claimed not needing their help. She was almost seventeen after all.

He nodded in agreement though his gaze was fixed onto their joined hands. It was almost too surreal for him; one moment the pair hated each other, though when he looked back _way_ back, there was always an interest always an attraction hidden beneath their snide remarks and teasing.

"Figures…" He answered a small somewhat fond smile on his lips, yet Rose could sense sadness in his tone. Growing up she had been surrounded by her large family consisting of Aunties, Uncles and cousins she always loved to be around. Since most of them were around her age, it meant that they went to school together and hardly ever went a day without meeting up at least once. So of course they were close, they looked out for each other so to be an only child like Scorpius and only ever having to look out for yourself must have been well…lonely.

"How's quidditch training?" He asked, quickly changing the subject. She gave a loud sigh as she remembered the seemingly endless training sessions which always consisted of laps, laps and surprisingly more laps.

"Great," She said, her voice filled with sarcasm "James is laying on the training thick…after your match with Ravenclaw he doesn't want any surprises"

Scorpius raised a brow in confusion "But you're going against _Hufflepuff_ " He stated, his emphasis on the house showcasing his confusion. The Hufflepuff team weren't exactly known for their fantastic quidditch skills, however if the previous matches were anything to go by, then anything could happen. The quidditch cup had been in Ravenclaws hands for the past two years and due to her families' trouble making streak the Gryffindor's had always been within reach of the house cup and resulted in it going to Hufflepuffs instead.

"Rumour has it that Mimi has been working her team extra hard…something about a bet with her sister" Rose explained with a small smile. She was kind of glad to have some sort of competition with the Hufflepuff's for she was looking forward to an interesting quidditch season.

"Perhaps we should state a wager" Scorpius suggested with a grin. Rose opened her mouth to agree when her eyes widened at the sight of her cousin Al stumbling into the pub with Saoirse and the Scamander twins trailing behind with guilty expressions. Al's quickly searched the pub, as if searching for someone and Rose quickly grasped Scorpius' hand and pulled him down and under the booth's table. The action caused him to quirk a brow in confusion however she quickly silenced him with a finger to his lips.

"Al…!" She loudly whispered before gesturing wildly. He watched in confusion as Rose peered round from under the table; Al and the others were quickly running towards another exit whilst an angry looking Mimi and a snow covered Vodden were walking in. The situation looked rather amusing however Rose did want to continue her own date in relative peace.

"Sorry.." She muttered as she turned back to face him "I just didn't fancy getting caught just yet"

He nodded in understanding before shifting awkwardly, the booth tables did nothing to accommodate their tall statures and the pair of them were forced to slouch in their hiding spot.

"Perhaps we should continue above the table?" Scorpius suggested with a grimace.

Rose nodded, however the action caused her to not so gracefully hit her head against the table top and most likely leave a bruise against her crown.

"That would be great"

* * *

The pair managed to make it back barely before curfew, keeping true to their plans of study they took a quick detour to the library in order to take out some books. Rose's arms were filled with various DADA, potions and ancient runes books that she doubted that her roommates would have any questions as to where she had been the entire day.

"You think you have enough?" Scorpius quipped with a small smirk. He had a couple of potions books held under one arm in order to fulfil his studying façade- unlike Rose who had decided to go all out.

"Kaylee and Suzanne will most likely get suspicious if I don't carry back the usual load" She stated. Some of her books started to slip and she had to quickly reposition her arms to prevent them from falling to the floor.

Scorpius shook his head in disbelief though Rose didn't miss the fond smile on his face, the kind that caused the butterflies in her stomach to go berserk.

"I could always give you a hand…" He suggested, his hand outstretched as if in an offering.

"Thanks but we can't be seen together. People-"

"Will get suspicious" Scorpius interrupted with an annoyed sigh. He wanted to be able to walk freely with Rose, to drape an arm over her shoulders, to entwine their fingers as they had done in the three broomsticks and be able to kiss her in public. He hated all the sneaking around and the 'suspicious friends' for in his opinion if he wanted to wrap his arms around his um…something he was bloody well entitled to.

However he knew it wasn't that easy, he respected Rose' wishes to keep their um…something a secret at least while they were till in early days however he was finding it more difficult to keep his eyes and hands to himself.

A gentle grip on his forearm dragged him away from his thoughts, and turning to face Rose he was met with her small smile, her books awkwardly tucked under one arm and her brows raised in an expression of amusement.

"This isn't forever," Rose stated as if reading his thoughts, "Just until we know where we stand and are comfortable with telling others"

He nodded in understanding, it did make sense to wait until their um..something had become more established before showing each other with affection in public however he didn't know how long that would take and how long the sneaking around would last for.

"Let's just take each day as it comes okay?" She stated before quickly stepping up on her toes to press a chaste kiss to his lips, a somewhat impetuous act for a few of the younger students still lingered around the hallways. However he wasn't going to complain.

He simply nodded and she mirrored the action before continuing down the hallway towards the Gryffindor tower, whilst he continued his journey down to the dungeons.

* * *

 **A/N TIME:**

 **So I had Scorpius and Rose name their relationship an 'um…something' because neither of them wants to put a label on it so early. Rose especially is knew to this sort of thing, meaning that the sneaking around and not being able to show affection doesn't bother her as much as it does with Scorpius.**

 **Now with Albus and the 'snowball situation', he does sort of regret ruining the intimate moment between Meara and Vodden, however he is sort of selfish when it comes to her and wants Meara (Mimi) to have those moments with him.**

 **However like the true 'devil/angel' fashion Saoirse tempted Albus with the opportunity to throw said snowball and ruin her sister's date due to her own desire to protect her sister from boys she doesn't see as worthy, and essentially she was using Albus for her own gain.**

 **Of course he isn't going to get away with it lightly and secrets are never easy to keep so stay tuned for the next chapter where Al evokes the wrath of a 5ft2 pixie, Rose discovers how hard it is to hide from a map and Scorpius thinks that Rose has lost it.**

 _ **JustAnotherFairy :)**_


	11. The alihotsy effect

Potions classes were now climbing to be her favourite part of the sixth year time table, even when partnered with Mimi who always somehow manged to set off an explosion during practical lessons and an accident prone Augusta sitting behind her, she always managed to pass notes to Scorpius who was sat at the work station beside her next to Al. Since their date about two weeks ago, the pair had gotten closer. Of course a new relationship scared her, it was something new which could end at any moment and knowing it excited her all the same, for it meant that the pair .

She glanced over to where Scorpius was sitting with a smile on her face, he offered her one of his usual grins and she resisted the urge to eye roll. owever he gestured to the folded piece of parchment next to his text book. Turning back to her own cauldron she noticed Mimi avidly reading the instructions before carefully placing in alihotsy leaves.

"Mimi, I'm just going to get some more…um alihotsy" She stated before heading away from the table. Mimi barely had enough time to offer a weak 'uh huh' before gently stirring the potion.

Heading towards the stock cupboard she offered professor Slughorn a small smile, an action which he gladly reciprocated and then walked back out with a small handful of alihotsy, bearing in mind that her station had more than enough.

She took the longer route round; sauntering past Augusta and Ezekiel Smith station, the latter scolding each other for adding the wrong ingredient and then walking back past Scorpius' station. He quickly glanced up without Al noticing for her cousin was too engrossed in making the draught if peace to pay attention bystanders and Rose was able to quickly take the folded parchment and head back to her seat whilst giving Scorpius a small smile.

Once back at her station she placed the alihosty down before unfolding the parchment and written in Scorpius' neat scrawl was the message:

 _On patrol, meet in the astronomy tower tonight at ten._

Rose smiled before folding back the note, however when Mimi glanced up to look back at her with confusion she quickly placed the note into the text book on the desk.

"It smells pretty good" Rose offered with a weak smile. Mimi slowly nodded with a raised brow, for everyone knew that the alihotsy draught smelt absolutely horrible.

"Hmm, let's just hope it actually works" Mimi responded before stirring the cauldrons contents once more. Once Rose was certain that Mimi was preoccupied she glanced back over to Scorpius, it only took him a few moments for him to feel her gaze on him and she smiled with a nod. He seemed to understand what she meant in regards to the note and he smirked before turning back to his own cauldron.

The room was plunged into a silence after that, the only sounds the hissing of cauldrons, students whispering instructions and the flames burning against the metal. However a loud high pitched squeal broke the silence and turning to her right Rose noticed blue fumes rising from their cauldron and Mimi clutching her stomach in hysterical laughter.

Noticing the signs of the alihotsy potion Rose quickly used her robes to cover her nose and mouth before Professor Slughorn came walking over with a wide grin at the sight of the situation. He loudly clapped his hands together which caused the rest of the students to jump slightly before grinning at both of them in turn.

"Well is seems that Rose and Minnie have successfully created the alihotsy potion, a potion known for causing hysteria" He gladly announced, though he was blissfully unaware of the error on his part for he had gotten Mimi's name completely wrong.

Mimi opened her mouth to protest at the use of the wrong name however all that came out was a loud squeal. Slughorn frowned slightly before waving his wand, the fumes instantly disappeared and the class were free to breathe, however Mimi's loud squeals of laughter were still heard.

"Rose, maybe you should accompany Minnie to the hospital wing" he suggested before glancing back to the girl who was still in uncontrollable laughter. Rose nodded before taking Mimi by the arm and leading her out of the class room.

* * *

He wasn't always one to study, especially when it concerned defence against the dark arts. Though with teachers starting to pile on more and more theory Al was starting to find himself in the library more often. It seemed that the rest of his classmates has the same mind-set for most of them had bombarded the library and started on taking notes from various textbooks.

Potions happened to be one of more difficult classes however with Scorpius as his partner his grades had started to improve. He had been studying harder than ever during his sixth year and combined with the added duty of being prefect things were starting to take their toll.

He was currently sat in the library, his head starting to pound from the intense studying and his wrist aching from the note taking. Al was seriously starting to reconsider his career options, perhaps being an auror was too ambitious for one did need the required grades after all.

He shut his charms text book with a sigh and ran a hand through his unruly black hair. He was sure that he looked a state right now; messy hair, dark circles and pale skin from lack of sunlight. He glanced up from his text book and had to quickly shake his head for he was starting to hallucinate!

In his tired state, he was seeing two Meara's. Both were watching him with curious expressions, her head was slightly tilted and her eyes wide. His eyes momentarily raked over her form, even dressed in her school uniform her clothes still to the curves of her body and Al was forced to look away before he could start staring at her chest.

She was walking over towards him and he barely bit back a groan at the way she swayed her hips with each step. He quickly glanced back down to his text book, opening it quickly and pretending to read.

He silently hoped that she would pass him, assume he was busy and carry on down the aisle. However the sound of someone lightly clearing thier throat and tapping his shoulder quickly ushered that hope away.

part of him wanted to avoid her, pretend that he couldn't hear or see her presence however that other part of him that was hooked on her turned around to meet ocean blue eyes. The close proximity caused the breath to hitch in his throat.

He was so focused on her eyes, her tanned skin and dark hair that cascaded down her shoulders in delicate waves that he didn't even register that she was speaking.

"Sorry...um what was that?" He asked dumbly.

She shook her head with a small smile before gesturing to the book.

"Charms...are you revising charms?" She asked.

He double blinked before quickly nodding.

"Yeah...um charms," He muttered quickly. "Just catching up on some reading"

She nodded in understanding before pulling up a chair and sitting next to him. He stiffened slightly at the proximity, she leaned over slightly so that she could grab hold of the text book though the action caused her chest to rub against his own.

"It's upside down"

He practically jumped back in his seat at her voice breaking the thick silence and he turned to see her flicking through the text book with a small smirk.

"Can't do much studying with an upside down book…" She commented.

She was smirking like a mad woman whereas he was straying to calm his erratic heartbeat, it was almost as if she knew the effect that she had on him and was manipulating it to her own advantage. He glanced back at her and she swung her dark brown hair over her shoulders as she was bent over the charms book.

She seemed to notice him staring and delivered him a smile; only this one was different to her usual soft smiles, this was flirtatious and causing feelings to stir in the pit of his stomach.

"You're struggling with charms," It was meant to be a question but by the way she was staring it him made it sound more like a statement.

He shrugged, though charms wasn't his best subject he wasn't exactly going to outright say he was struggling at it.

"Fine. Guess I can tutor you," She placed her finger on her chin as if in thought "Since you need my expertise"

He shook his head in disbelief wondering when and how did she get so cocky in her own abilities. She simply placed a block of fudge into her mouth, offering him a piece in the process.

"Why are you doing this?" He asked. He assumed that she must have wanted something in return however it wasn't unusual for Meara to offer something out of the kindness of his own heart.

She shrugged before standing, pocketing her fudge packet into her school bag and turning to leave.

"Well you suck at charms and I don't" She stated as if it were obvious. Well he wouldn't use that word to describe his charms skills, after all they had gotten him this far.

He opened his mouth to protest however she was already leaving and he started on packing up his school supplies. At least she didn't mention her date….

"And Al,"

He turned to see her half way down the aisle, a stack of books in her arms and a strangely dangerous look in her usually bright eyes. It was almost intimidating.

"Next time you and my sister plan on ruining my date, don't" And with that she delivered a soft smile, all remnants of the dark look gone as she was reduced back to her usual self.

He momentarily shivered for she was one girl that he would never again underestimate. Yet he was intrigued.

Did that make him a masochist?

* * *

It had been hard to sneak out of her room that night, her roommates now knew that she was sneaking out to meet someone yet they just didn't know who. Of course Kaylee being the gossip she was wanted to know all of the details.

' _Is he hot?' 'ooh what house is he in?' 'what about a good snog?'_

Suzanne watched with a grin however Jodie was being quiet due to their last fight and had simply shut herself behind her bed curtains.

The last of the prefects were completing their rounds; she had almost ran into Ezekiel Smith, a Hufflepuff with a strong distaste of practically everybody and Rose had to hide in a broom cupboard to avoid him.

She had just passed the kitchens, her usual late night stop when she bumped straight into her elder cousin James.

James shared many similarities in appearance to his younger brother Al; dark hair, squared jaw and a dusting of freckles across his nose. However unlike his younger brother James had developed a knack for causing trouble from a young age and his partner in crime tended to be their other cousin Fred.

"So what brings you down here?" He asked with a grin. Rose resisted the urge to roll her eyes, she just had too many men in her life who were way too cocky for their own good.

Rose shrugged, feigning innocence in the hopes that James wouldn't get suspicious.

"Just taking a stroll," She answered before quickly walking ahead, she silently hoped that James would get bored and head in the opposite direction. She carried on down the deserted hallway, taking a few quick turns here and there to throw James off her trail.

* * *

Turning back it seemed that her plan had worked, for James was nowhere in sight and she was alone save for the figures that resided in the paintings. With a small sigh she turned back ahead, if she carried on down this corridor and then took another two lefts she would arrive in the astronomy tower.

"If you take another two lefts you'll be right in the astronomy tower…" James stated as he seemingly appeared from thin air and fell into step beside her. She spared a glance down at the map, noticing the pairs of feet representing the patrolling prefects and her eyes widened once she saw the pair of feet with the name _Scorpius Malfoy_ scrawled above heading closer and closer towards the astronomy tower.

Rose inwardly groaned, she quickly placed her hand over the map and pointed to where the _Ezekiel Smith_ feet were heading, the slightly large footprints were heading towards them.

"We can't let Smith catch us out?" She asked with slight irritation for she really just wanted to get to her date. He quickly nodded before glancing down at the map and quickly heading in the opposite direction whilst dragging her behind him.

Glancing back towards the map it showed the _Ezekiel Smith_ feet walk straight over the spot where they had just been. Yet again she had had another close call, and yet again it had almost been Ezekiel to catch her out.

"Just wondering why…you aren't exactly the star gazing type" He stated as if trying to fit the pieces together. Rose inwardly groaned once more, for if James decided to put his mind to something he never let it go. At times such a trait came in useful especially whenever she needed help opening tightly closed jars, however whenever it involved someone's business it was rather irritating.

"Well maybe I want to take up a hobby" She snapped before running a hand through her hair, her eyes darted to the map which James wasn't paying attention to at the moment. More prefects had starting heading towards their respective common rooms due to the late hour and only a few of the ones she recognised at sixth years remained. A small smile formed across her lips as she saw a pair of feet heading towards them, and if she was able to distract James she just be able to lose him.

She carried on walking in the same direction silently hoping that her plan would work and that James would follow in an attempt to get answers, and turning back she almost thanked the stars for James was jogging up towards her and had now fallen into step beside her.

"Then let me go with…" James suggested.

She pretended to think the offer over, when in reality she was just buying time.

"Maybe…" She started before bumping straight into another person. She quickly righted herself and spared a quick glance at James who appeared to be mortified at the prospect of being caught, he had quickly placed the map up the sleeve of his muggle jumper and now sported an odd lump in his arm- she actually felt a little sorry for him however he was distracting her from her date!

Mimi was staring at both of them in confusion, though she was a prefect she was known to be more lenient towards her friends and right now said conflict was written clearly on her face.

"What are you guys doing here, _after_ curfew?" She asked with a slight frown.

James shrugged, clearly shaken out of his state of shock and ready to do what he did best: talk his way out of awkward situations.

"The same thing as you" He stated which only confused the prefect.

"B-but you two aren't prefects!" She exclaimed with her index finger pointing at each of them in turn.

James shrugged before taking a step towards Mimi, which caused the brunette to quickly take a step back in confusion.

"look Mimi….you don't report us and I don't report you about the elephant incident" He offered with a grin.

Mimi's eyes widened before she frowned once more almost as in thought and then offered James her hand.

"Deal. But you go back to your dorms before someone else catches you-"

"Done" James stated, though Mimi frowned at being interrupted.

" _And_ neither of you mentions this to anyone" She added before giving a firm nod.

James nodded before draping an arm over Mimi's shoulders though the brunette stared in confusion at where his arm was placed.

"You know Meara," He started with a grin though she visibly grimaced at the use of her full name. "I knew that you were an alright kind of girl" He added as he proceeded to walk the pair of them down a hallway.

"Of course…" She added, her voice echoing down the empty halls. Rose shook her head with disbelief, she waited until the pair of them had turned a corner and were out of earshot before quickly turning towards the direction of the astronomy tower. She'd have to find a way to thank Mimi later, however right now she had a date to get to.

* * *

Rose never was a fan of astronomy lessons, most likely due to them being held at such a late hour however the muggle ancient Greek myths surrounding said constellations had always fascinated her from a young age and still to this day. The pair of them were currently sat by the towers balcony pointing out the constellations to one another, Scorpius had transfigured a blanket over the pair of them whilst Rose had formed some magical fire in a jar placed between them. Her head was rested against his shoulder, one of his arms draped around her was lazily drawing patterns into her arm.

"We're going to have to be more careful" Rose said with a sigh, she had barely managed to get rid of James and with the aid of his map there was nowhere for them to hide.

Scorpius hand suddenly stopped with its lazy patterns, though after a few seconds he nodded his head in agreement.

"If anything after today your family is only going to get worse" He added with a slight smirk. She scowled before punching him lightly in the chest and he instantly placed his free hand over the spot where she had struck him in a dramatic fashion. To her he was a sarcastic little git, yet he was still her sarcastic little git. A part of her missed their heated confrontational during their shared classes, yet the more sensible part of her recognized that she now had something better than the odd argument. Their arguments now where more flirtatious and playful and always ended in kisses.

"Woman how you wound me…" He deadpanned which only caused Rose to roll her eyes and wonder why all the men in her life just had to make it their mission to irritate her.

"You're such an idiot" She commented in disbelief however she snuggled closer in his hold.

"Says the one running away from a magical map" Scorpius countered with a grin. Rose only stuck out her tongue in response, after all she had no snarky comment and it did sound sort of stupid when he said it though she wasn't going to admit it.

"Hey look there's you," Rose pointed out with a smile. Scorpius frowned before Rose gently took his free hand to trace the jagged outline of the Scorpius constellation.

"Right next to Sagittarius…" She added almost as an afterthought.

He smiled slightly before taking her hand in his larger one

"It's fitting how that's your sign" He added, glancing from their entwined hands and back to the night sky. The stars which made up their respective star signs were placed together in the sky, just as they were at the moment. It was almost as if they were written in the stars to be together, though the thought sounded cheesy enough to make her snort in laughter.

"Hmm yeah, it's fitting" She added before shifting in her space beside him to plant a small kiss against his lips.

However once Scorpius had one taste he had instantly pulled her closer towards him, his hand had tangled in her auburn curls and nothing else mattered.

Maybe it was the starry sky, the cold winter air against his skin but he had this strange sense of happiness whenever he was near her. It was almost as if he were under the influence of the alihotsy draught, and the strange feelings the alihotsy effect.

* * *

 **A/N time!**

 **It was fun of course to write for James, I tried to make him cocky yet not Scorpius cocky if that makes sense. I kind of imagined Scorpius to be more of a suave cocky type person, whereas James to be more of a joker type cocky person- so like the original James Bond (Scorpius) and Tony Stark (James)**

 **Oh and of course poor Al getting all flustered with Mimi doing her stretching over thing next to him, he of course is a teenage boy and of course a teenage boy is gonna get all excited and stuff around a girl and her err stuff. Of course I'll leave the subject of whether Mimi did or didn't know what she was doing up to you guys but let's just say she isn't as sweet as you nay think.**

 **The Scorpius and Rose moments are always fun and of course I had to include the stargazing due to his heritage and of course the star sign thingy was intended. Since his name is Scorpius I'm just going to assume that he was born under this sign since that would make sense after all.**

 **I want to thank Londonswriting and TheImpossibleJJ for following and of course a big thankyou to the reviewers; Londonswriting, Calzoneeater, helpfulfred and labass.**

 **Stay tuned for the next chapter where the school breaks for the holidays, Rose receives a surprise and Al is confused.**

 **JustAnotherairy :)**


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